PH 

0) 

— 

H 


Postal  Riders  and  Raiders 


Are  we  fools?     If  we  are  not  fools,  why  then  continue  to 
act  foolishly ,  thus  inviting  railroad,  express  com- 
pany and  postoffice  officials  to  treat 
us  as  if  we  were  fools  f 


By    The    Man    On    The    Ladder 

(W.   H.  GANTZ) 


Issued  By  The  Independent  Postal  League 


CHICAGO,    U.  S.  A. 
1912 


COPYRIGHT.  1912.  BY  THE  AUTHOR 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


Price  $1.50,  Prepaid  to  Any  Addren. 

Independent   Postal   League, 

No.  5037  Indiana  Ave.. 

Chicago 


FOREWORD  TO  THE  READER. 

The  mud-sills  of  this  book  are  hewn  from  the  presuppo- 
sition that  the  person  who  reads  it  has  not  only  the  essen- 
tially necessary  equipment  to  do  his  own  thinking,  but 
also  a  more  or  less  practiced  habit  of  doing  it.  It  is  upon 
such  foundation  the  superstructure  of  this  volume  was 
built.  It  is  written  in  the  hope  of  promoting,  or  provoking, 
thought  on  certain  subjects,  along  certain  lines — not  to 
create  or  school  thinkers.  So,  if  the  reader  lacks  the 
necessary  cranial  furnishing  to  do  his  own  thinking,  or,  if 
having  that,  he  has  a  cultivated  habit  of  letting  other  people 
do  his  hard  thinking  and  an  ingrown  desire  to  let  them 
continue  doing  so,  such  reader  may  as  well  stop  at  this 
period.  In  fact,  he  would  better  do  so.  The  man  who 
has  his  thinking  done  by  proxy  is  possibly  as  happy  and 
comfortable  on  a  siding  as  he  would  be  anywhere — as  he 
is  capable  of  being.  I  have  no  desire  to  disturb  his  state 
or  condition  of  static  felicity.  Besides,  such  a  man  might 
"run  wild"  or  otherwise  interfere  with  the  traffic  if 
switched  onto  the  main  line. 

Emerson  has  somewheres  said,  "Beware  when  God 
turns  a  thinker  loose  in  the  world/'  Of  course  Emerson 
cautioned  about  constructive  and  fighting  thinkers,  not 
thinkers  who  think  they  know  because  somebody  told  them 
so,  or  who  think  they  have  thought  till  they  know  all  about 
some  unknowable  thing — the  ratio  of  the  diameter  to  the 
circumference  of  the  circle,  how  to  construct  two  hills 
without  a  valley  between,  to  build  a  bunghole  bigger  than 
the  barrel,  and  the  like. 

There  are  thinkers  and  thinkers.     Emerson  had  the 

263671 


6  FOREWORD   TO   THE    READER. 

distinction  between  them  clearly  in  mind  no  doubt  when 
he  wrote  that  quoted  warning.  So,  also,  has  the  thinking 
reader.  It  is  for  him  this  volume  is  planned;  to  him  its 
arguments  and  statements  of  fact  are  intended  to  appeal. 
Its  chapters  have  been  hurriedly  written — some  of  them 
written  under  conditions  of  physical  distress.  The 
attempts  at  humor  may  be  attempts  only;  the  irony  may  be 
misplaced  or  misapplied;  the  spade-is-a-spade  style  may 
be  blunt,  harsh  or  even  coarse  to  the  point  of  offensiveness. 
Still,  if  its  reading  provokes  or  otherwise  induces  thought, 
the  purpose  of  its  writing,  at  least  in  some  degree,  will  have 
been  attained.  It  is  not  asked  that  the  reader  agree  with 
the  conclusions  of  the  text.  If  he  read  the  facts  stated  and 
thinks — thinks  for  himself — he  will  reach  right  conclusions. 
The  facts  are  of  easy  comprehension.  It  requires  no 
superior  academic  knowledge  nor  experience  of  years  to 
understand  them  and  their  significance — their  lesson. 

Just  read  and  think.  Do  not  let  any  "official" 
noise  nor  breakfast-food  rhetoric  so  syncopate  and 
segregate  your  thought  as  to  derail  it  from  the  main  line 
of  facts..  .Lofty,. persuasive  eloquence  is  often  but  the 
attractive^raperytoi-pknned  falsehood,  and  the  beauti- 
fully Eoup.d^ti;pj5ti(5d  'i^-pften  but  a  "steer"  for  an  ulterior 
motive— a' "tout''  for  a  marked-card  game.  Do  not  be 
a  "come-on"  for  any  verbal  psychic  work  or  worker. 
Just  stubbornly  persist  in  doing  your  own  thinking,  ever 
remembering  that  in  this  vale  of  tears,  "Plain  hoss  sense  '11 
pull  you  through  when  ther's  nothin'  else  '11  do." 

As  a  thinker,  you  will  now  have  lots  of  company,  and 
they  are  still  coming  in  droves.  Respectable  company, 
too.  Mr.  Roosevelt  suddenly  arrived  a  few  days  since  at 
Columbus,  Ohio.  Then  there  is  Mr.  Carnegie  and  Judge 


FOREWORD  TO    THE     READER. 


Gary.  The  senior  Mr.  Rockefeller,  also,  has  announced, 
through  a  representative,  that  he  is  on  the  way.  These 
latter,  of  course,  have  been  thinkers  for  many  years — 
thinkers  on  personal  service  lines  chiefly,  it  has  been  nu- 
merously asserted.  Now,  however,  if  press  accounts  are 
true,  they  have  begun  to  think,  a  little  at  least,  about  the 
general  welfare,  about  the  common  good — about  the  other 
fellow. 

Whether  this  change  in  mental  effort  and  direction,  if 
change  it  be,  has  followed  upon  a  more  careful  study  of 
conditions  which  have  so  long,  so  wastefully,  or  ruthlessly 
and  viciously  governed,  or  results  from  the  fact  that  the 
advancing  years  have  brought  these  gentlemen  so  near 
Jericho  that  they  see  a  gleam  of  the  clearer  light  and 
occasionally  hear  the  "rustle  of  a  wing,"  I  do  not  know. 
Nor  need  one  know  nor  care.  That  they  come  to  join  the 
rapidly- growing  company  of  thinkers  is  sufficient. 

CHICAGO,  March  1,  1912. 


Postal  Riders  and  Raiders 


CHAPTER   I. 

MAL-ADMINISTRATION  RUN  RIOT. 

This  is  nice  winter  weather.  However,  as  The  Man  on  the 
Ladder  was  born  some  distance  prior  to  the  week  before  last,  there's 
a  tang  and  chill  in  the  breezes  up  here  about  the  ladder  top  which 
makes  the  temperature  decidedly  less  congenial  than  is  the  atmos- 
phere in  the  editorial  rooms  of  my  publisher. 

But,  say,  the  view  from  this  elevation  is  mighty  interesting. 
The  mobilization  of  the  United  States  soldiery  far  to  the  Southwest ; 
the  breaking  up  of  corrals  and  herds  to  the  West;  the  starting  of 
activities  about  mining  camps  in  the  West  and  Northwest;  the 
lumber  jacks  and  teams  in  the  spruce  forests  of  the  north  are  indeed 
inspiring  things  to  look  upon ;  and  over  the  eastern  horizon,  there  in 
the  lumber  sections  of  New  England  and  to  the  Southeast,  in  the  soft 
maple,  the  cottonwood  and  basswood  districts,  the  people  appear  to 

be  industriously  and  happily  active;  away  to  the  South 

Say !  What's  that  excitement  over  there  at  Washington,  D.  C.  ? 

"Hello,  Central !  Hello !    Yes,  this  is  The  Man  on  the  Ladder." 

"Get  me  Washington,  D.  C.,  on  the  L.-D.  in  a  hurry — and  get 
Congressman  Blank  on  that  end  of  the  wire.  The  House  is  in  session, 
and  certainly  he  ought  to  be  found  in  not  more  than  five  minutes." 

It  is  something  unusually  gratifying  to  see  that  activity  about 
that  sleepy  group  of  capitol  buildings — the  "House  of  Dollars," 
the  house  of  the  hoi  poloi,  and  the  White  House — a  scene  that  will 
linger  in  the  freshness  and  fragrance  of  my  remembrance  until  the 
faculty  of  memory  fades  away.  There  are  messengers  and  pages 
flitting  about  from  house  to  house  as  if  the  prairies  were  afire  behind 
them.  Excited  Congressmen  are  in  heated  discourse  on  the  esplanade, 
on  the  capitol  steps  and  in  the  corridors  and  cloak  rooms.  And 
there  are  numerous  groups  of  Senators,  each  a  kingly  specimen  of 
what  might  be  a  real  man  if  there  was  not  so  much  pickled  dignity 


J.O  POSTAL    RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS. 

oozing  from  his  stilted  countenance  and  pose.  There  now  go  four  of 
them  to  the  White  House,  probably  to  see  the  President,  our  smiling 
William.  I  wonder  what  they  are  after.  I  wonder 

"Yes,  yes!  Hello!  Is  that  you,  Congressman  Jim?"  "Yes? 
What  can  I  do  for  you?" 

"Well,  this  is  The  Man  on  the  Ladder,  Jim,  and  I  want  to  know 
in  the  name  of  heaven — any  other  spot  you  can  think  of  quickly 
will  do  as  well — what's  the  occasion  and  cause  for  all  that -external 
excitement  and  activity  I  see  around  the  capitol  building?  There 
must  be  a  superthermic  atmosphere  inside  both  the  Senate  and 
House  to  drive  so  many  of  our  statesmen  to  the  open  air  and  jolt 
them  into  a  quickstep  in  their  movements.  Now  go  on  and  tell, 

and  tell  me  straight." 

*****          ****** 

Well,  Well !  If  I  did  not  know  my  Congressman  friend  so  well, 
I  would  scarcely  be  persuaded  to  believe  what  he  has  just  phoned  me. 

It  appears  that  a  conspiracy — yes,  I  mean  just  that — a  conspiracy 
has  been  entered  into  between  our  Chief  Executive,  a  coterie  of  Sena- 
tors, possibly  a  Congressman  or  two  and  a  numerous  gang  of  corporate 
and  vested  interests,  cappers  and  beneficiaries,  to  penalize  various 
independent  weekly  and  monthly  periodicals.  Penalize  is  what  I 
said.  But  that  word  is  by  no  means  strong  enough.  The  intent  of 
the  conspirators  was — and  is — to  put  certain  periodicals  out  of  business 
and  to  establish  a  press  censorship  in  the  person  of  the  Postmaster 
General  as  will  enable  him  to  put  any  periodical  out  of  existence  which 
does  not  print  what  it  is  told  to  publish. 

It  would  seem  that  when  the  Postoffice  appropriation  bill  left 
the  House,  where  all  revenue  measures  must  originate,  it  was  a  fairly 
clean  bill,  carrying  some  $258,000,000  of  the  people's  money  for 
the  legitimate  service  of  the  people.  Of  course  it  carried  many  service 
excesses,  just  as  it  has  carried  in  each  of  the  past  thirty  or  forty 
years,  and  several  of  those  looting  excesses  so  conspicuous  in  every  one 
of  the  immediately  past  fifteen  years. 

But  otherwise,  it  may  be  stated,  the  House  approval  carried  this 
bill  to  the  Senate  in  its  usual  normal  cleanliness.  It  was  referred  to 
the  Senate  Committee  on  Postoffices  and  Postroads,  the  members  of 
which,  after  conference  with  the  President,  annexed  to  it  an  alleged 
revenue- producing  "rider." 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  11 

This  rider  I  will  later  on  discuss  for  the  information  of  my  readers. 
Here  I  desire  only  to  call  the  reader's  attention  to  the  fact  that  under 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  the  United  States  Senate  has 
no  more  right  or  authority  to  originate  legislation  for  producing  federal 
revenues  than  has  the  Hamilton  Club  of  Chicago  or  the  Golf  Club  at 
Possum  Run,  Kentucky.  But  the  conspirators — I  still  use  the  milder 
term,  though  I  feel  like  telling  the  truth,  which  could  be  expressed 
only  by  some  term  that  would  class  their  action  as  that  of  assassinating 
education  in  this  country.  These  conspirators,  I  say,  did  not  hesitate 
to  exceed  and  violate  their  constitutional  obligations  and  prerogatives. 
They  added  a  revenue-producing  "rider"  to  House  resolution  31,539. 
The  rider  was  to  raise  certain  kinds  of  second-class  matter  from  a 
one-cent  per  pound  rate  to  a  four-cent  per  pound  rate.  Not  only  that, 
but  they  managed  to  induce  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  to  push 
into  the  Senate  several  ulterior  motive  reports  and  letters  to  boost 
the  outlawry  to  successful  passage.  But,  more  of  this  later. 

My  friend  Congressman  Jim  has  just  informed  me  that  the 
conspirators  were  beginning  to  fear  their  ability  even  to  get  their 
"rider"  to  the  post  for  a  start;  that  many  members  and  representa- 
tives of  the  Periodical  Press  Association  of  New  York  City,  as  well 
as  those  of  other  branches  of  the  printing  industry,  hearing  of  the 
attempt  to  put  this  confiscatory  rider  over  in  the  closing  hours — the 
crooked  hours — of  Congress,  hurried  to  Washington  and  sought  to 
inform  Senators  and  members  of  the  House  of  the  truth  about  second- 
class  mail  matter.  Congressman  Jim  also  informed  me  that  a 
delegation  representing  the  publishing  interests  of  Chicago  had 
arrived  a  few  hours  before  and  were  scarcely  on  the  ground  before 
"things  began  to  happen."  "People  talk  about  Chicagoans  making 
a  noise,"  said  Jim  in  his  L.-D.  message,  "but  when  it  comes  to  doing 
things  you  can  count  on  them  to  go  to  it  suddenly,  squarely  and 
effectively.  That  delegation  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the  excitement 
which  you  notice  here.  Good-by." 

Friend  Jim,  being  a  Chicago  boy,  may  be  pardoned  even  when  a 
little  profuse  or  over-confident  in  speaking  of  what  his  townsmen  can 
do,  but  Congressman  Jim  is  a  live-wire  Congressman,  and  has  been 
able  to  do  several  things  himself  while  on  his  legislative  job,  even 
against  stacked-up  opposition. 

While  reporting  on  Congressman  Jim's  message  from  Washington, 


12  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

I  phoned  the  leading  features  to  the  office  and  have  just  received 
peremptory  orders  to  write  up  not  only  this  attempt  but  other 
attempts  to  raid  the  postal  revenues  of  the  country  by  means  of 
crooked  riders  and  otherwise.  So  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  go  to  it. 

Incidentally,  my  editor,  knowing  my  tendency  to  write  with  a 
club,  cautions  me  to  adopt  the  dignified  style  of  composition  while 
writing  upon  this  subject.  I  assure  my  readers  that  I  shall  be  as 
dignified  as  the  heritage  of  my  nature  will  allow  and  the  subject 
warrants.  If  I  occasionally  fall  from  the  expected  dignified  altitude 
I  trust  the  reader  will  be  indulgent,  will  charge  the  fault,  in  part  at 
least,  to  my  remote  Alsatian  ancestor.  He  fought  with  a  club.  I 
have  therefore  an  inherited  tendency  to  write  (fight),  with  a  club. 
So  here  goes. 

In  opening  on  this  important  subject,  for  vastly  important  it  is 
from  whatever  angle  one  views  it,  I  wish  first  to  speak  of  the  govern- 
mental postoffice  department  and  then  of  Postmaster  Generals. 

First  I  will  say  that  this  government  has  not  had,  at  least  within 
the  range  of  my  mature  recollection,  any  business  management  of  its 
postoffice  department  above  the  level  of  that  given  to  Reuben's 
country  store  of  Reubenville,  Arkansas. 

The  second  fact  I  desire  to  put  forward  is  that  since  the  days  of 
Benjamin  Franklin  there  have  been  but  few,  a  possible  three  or  four, 
Postmaster  Generals  who  had  any  qualifications  whatsoever,  business 
or  other,  to  direct  the  management  of  so  large  a  business  as  that 
comprehended  in  the  federal  postal  service.  Not  only  are  the  chiefs, 
the  Postmaster  Generals,  largely  or  wholly  lacking  in  business  and 
executive  ability  to  manage  so  large  an  industrial  and  public  service, 
but  their  chosen  assistants  (Second,  Third  and  on  up  to  the  Fourth  or 
Fifth  "Assistant  Postmaster  Generals"),  have  been  and  are  likewise 
lacking  in  most  or  all  of  the  essential  qualifications  fundamentally 
necessary  to  the  management  and  direction  of  large  industrial  or 
service  business  enterprises.  I  venture  to  say  that  none  of  them 
have  read,  and  few  of  them  even  heard  of,  the  splendid  book  written 
by  Mr.  Frederick  W.  Taylor  explaining,  really  giving  the  A,  B,  C 
of  the  "Science  of  Business  Management,"  which  for  several  years 
has  been  so  beneficial  in  the  business  and  industrial  methods  in  this 
country  as  almost  to  have  worked  an  economic  revolution.  I  equally 
doubt  if  they  have  even  read  the  series  of  articles  in  one  of  the  monthly 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  13 

periodicals,  which  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  and  his  coterie  of 
conspirators  tried  to  stab  in  the  back  with  that  Senate  "rider"  on 
the  postoffice  appropriation  bill.  Yet  Mr.  Taylor  wrote  these  articles, 
and  Mr.  Taylor  must  know  a  great  deal  about  economic,  scientific 
business  management.  He  must  know,  otherwise  the  Steel  Corpora- 
tion, the  great  packing  concerns,  several  railroads,  the  Yale  and  Towne 
Manufacturing  Company,  the  Link  Belt  Company  and  a  number  of 
other  large  concerns,  as  well  as  the  trained  editors  of  several  engineer- 
ing and  industrial  journals,  would  not  have  so  generally,  likewise  pro- 
fitably, adopted  and  approved  his  recommendations  and  directions. 

Yet  while  most  of  these  "Assistant  Postmaster  Generals"  and  their 
subassistants  have  been  glaringly — yes,  discouragingly — incompetent 
to  manage  and  direct  the  work  of  their  divisions,  some  of  them  have 
shown  an  elegance  of  aptitude,  a  finished  adroitness  in  using  their 
official  positions  to  misappropriate,  likewise  to  appropriate  to  their  own 
coffers,  the  funds  and  revenues  of  the  Postoffice  Department.  Refer- 
ence needs  only  to  be  made  to  the  grace  and  deftness  displayed  by 
August  W.  Machen,  George  W.  Beavers  and  their  copartners. 
The  one  was  Superintendent  of  Free  Delivery,  the  other  Superintend- 
ent of  Salaries  and  Allowances,  and  the  way  they,  for  several  years, 
made  the  postoffice  funds  and  revenues  "come  across"  beat  any  get- 
rich-quick  concern  about  forty  rods  in  any  mile  heat  that  was  reported 
in  the  sporting  columns  of  the  daily  press. 

General  Leonard  Wood,  Congressman  Loud  and  a  few  other 
reputable  officials  induced  President  Roosevelt  to  institute  an 
investigation.  The  investigation  was  made  under  the  direction  of 
Joseph  L.  Bristow.  Then  things  were  uncovered ;  that  is,  some  things 
were  uncovered.  In  speaking  of  the  nastiness  disclosed  William  Allen 
White  in  1904  wrote,  in  part,  as  follows: 

"Most  of  the  Congressmen  knew  there  was  something  wrong  in 
Beaver's  department;  and  Beaver  knew  of  their  suspicions;  so  Con- 
gressmen generally  got  from  him  what  they  went  after,  and  the  crook- 
edness thrived. 

"When  it  was  stopped  by  President  Roosevelt,  this  crookedness 
was  so  far-reaching  that  when  a  citizen  went  to  the  postoffice  to  buy 
a  stamp  the  cash  register  which  gave  him  his  change  was  full  of  graft, 
the  ink  used  in  canceling  the  stamp  was  full  of  graft,  the  pad  which 
furnished  the  ink  was  full  of  graft,  the  clock  which  kept  the  clerk's 


14  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

time  was  full  of  graft,  the  carrier's  satchel  tie-straps,  his  shoulder 
straps,  and  his  badge  were  subject  to  illegal  taxation,  the  money 
order  blanks  were  full  of  graft,  the  letter  boxes  on  the  street  were 
fraudulently  painted,  fraudulently  fastened  to  the  posts,  fraudulently 
made,  and  equipped — many  of  them  with  fraudulent  time-indicat- 
ors. Often  the  salaries  of  the  clerks  were  full  of  graft.  And  in  the 
case  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  swindling  letters  and  advertise- 
ments that  were  dropped  in  the  box — they  were  full  of  graft." 

We  will  now  get  down  to  the  present  Postmaster  General,  Mr. 
Frank  H.  Hitchcock.  I  have  read,  and  shall  later  print  in  this  volume 
the  Senate  "rider"  to  the  postoffice  department  appropriation  bill, 
which,  so  far  as  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  has  been  able  to  learn,  Mr. 
Hitchcock  either  wrote  or  '  'steered"  in  its  writing.  I  have  also  read 
his  series  of  letters  to  Senator  Penrose,  Chairman  of  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Postoffices  and  Postroads;  also  his  1910  report.  At 
this  point  I  shall  make  my  comment  on  Postmaster  General  Hitch- 
cock brief  but,  mayhap,  somewhat  pointed. 

Most  Postmaster  Generals  for  the  past  thirty  or  more 
years  have  been  incompetent.  There  have  been  a  few  notable  and 
worthy  exceptions,  but  their  worthiness  was  almost  completely  lost  in 
the  department  by  reason  of  previously  planted  corruption  and 
political  interference.  Most  Postmaster  Generals,  as  has  been  stated, 
have  had  little  or  no  qualification  for  the  management  and  adminis- 
tration of  so  large  a  service  industry  as  that  covered  by  the  federal 
postoffice  department. 

Mr.  Hitchcock,  in  his  administration  of  the  department,  in  his 
reports  and  recent  letters  to  the  Senate  and  the  House,  has  shown 
himself  scarcely  up  to  the  average  of  his  incompetent  predecessors. 

Mr.  Hitchcock's  "rider"  to  the  1911  postoffice  appropriation  bill 
and  his  recent  letters  to  Senator  Penrose  and  others  will  convince 
any  fairminded,  informed  reader  that  he  is  either  an  "influenced" 
man  or  is  densely  ignorant.  I  wish  to  make  this  point  emphatic: 
The  careless,  loose,  hurried — yes,  even  silly — wording  of  that  "rider" 
and  the  false  and  foolish  statements  in  his  letters  to  Senator  Penrose, 
relating  to  his  demand  for  an  increase  of  three  cents  a  pound  on 
certain  periodicals  now  carried  in  the  mails  as  second-class  matter  at 
one  cent  a  pound,  he  to  be  given  authority  to  pick  out  and  designate 
the  periodicals  which  should  be  subject  to  the  increased  rate — his  false 


POSTAL    RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS.  15 

and  foolish  statements  in  that  "rider,"  and  in  his  recent  letters,  I  say, 
must  show  to  any  intelligent  mind  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  either  an 
"influenced"  man  or  a  six-cylinder,  chain-tired,  hill-climber  of  an 
ignoramus  in  matters  relating  to  periodical  publication,  and  also  in 
many  essential  matters  relating  to  his  department. 

My  previous  statements  regarding  the  government's  post- 
office  department,  about  Postmaster  Generals  in  general  and  about  Mr. 
Hitchcock  in  particular,  may  not  be  up  to  the  broadcloth  of  dignity, 
but  they  do  carry  the  dignity  of  fact  and  truth,  as  I  shall  proceed  to 
demonstrate  to  my  readers. 

Let  us  consider  first  the  government  postoffice  department  and 
then  Mr.  Hitchcock's  recent  actions  and  utterances. 

Most  of  the  Postmaster  Generals,  including  Mr.  Hitchcock, 
appear  to  have  been  greatly  exercised  about  "deficits,"  yet  persist  in 
pursuing  methods  of  business  management  and  direction  that  must, 
almost  necessarily,  make  expenditures  of  the  department  exceed  its 
receipts. 

Also  I  may  ask,  in  this  connection,  why  so  much  agony,  or 
"front,"  whichever  it  may  be,  about  a  "deficit"  in  the  Postoffice  De- 
partment ?  The  postal  service  of  the  country  is  a  public  service,  a 
service  of  all  the  people.  As  such  the  revenues  of  the  federal  postoffice 
department  should  not  be  permitted  to  exceed  the  actual  cost  of  the  service 
rendered  under  honest,  economical  and  competent  management  and  direc- 
tion. 

The  departments  of  war  and  the  navy  produce  no  revenue  save 
the  comparatively  speaking  trifling  sums  received  from  the  sale  of 
junk,  abandoned  equipment,  accoutrements,  etc.  These  depart- 
ments render  personal  or  direct  service  to  but  a  small  fraction  of  the 
vast  number  of  people  served  by  the  postoffice  department.  Almost 
the  entire  appropriation  for  war  and  the  navy  in  the  past  forty-five 
years  might  be  called  a  "deficit"  so  far  as  any  service  they  have 
rendered  to  the  great  body  of  the  Nation's  citizenship  is  concerned. 
Yet  in  the  face  of  all  this,  so  loosely,  carelessly  and  crookedly  have  the 
departments  of  war  and  of  the  navy  been  managed  that  there  is 
scarcely  a  session  of  Congress  which  is  not  appealed  to  for  huge  sums 
of  money  to  cover  "deficits,"  to  meet  extravagant,  wasteful  and,  not 
infrequently,  fraudulent  expenditures  in  excess  of  the  vast  sums  set 
aside  for  them  in  their  annual  appropriation  bills. 


16  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

A  few  years  since  it  was  found  that  the  navy  department  was 
employing  more  clerks  than  it  employed  service  men. 

As  to  these  strictures  on  the  Postoffice  Department,  I  will  here 
quote  for  the  benefit  of  readers  who  may  not  have  studied  this  postal 
service  question,  a  few  authorities  on  the  subject  under  consideration. 

A  few  years  ago  the  methods  and  abuses  of  the  federal  Postoffice 
Department  were  investigated  by  a  joint  commission  of  Congress. 
One  paragraph  of  the  commission's  report  reads  as  follows  and  must 
be  regarded  as  officially  significant: 

"It  appears  too  obvious  to  require  argument  that  the  most 
efficient  service  can  never  be  expected  as  long  as  the  direction  of  the 
business  is,  as  at  present,  intrusted  to  a  Postmaster  General  and 
certain  assistants  selected  without  special  reference  to  experience  and 
qualifications  and  subject  to  frequent  change.  Under  such  a  system 
a  large  railroad,  commercial  or  industrial  business  would  inevitably 
go  into  bankruptcy  and  the  postoffice  department  has  averted  that 
fate  only  because  the  United  States  Treasury  has  been  able  to  meet 
deficiencies." 

Pretty  plain,  straight  talk  that,  is  it  not? 

The  resolution  to  appoint  a  commission  of  three  members  and 
appropriate  $50,000  for  the  commission's  use  was  tacked  onto  the 
postoffice  appropriation  bill  after  the  Senate  "rider"  was  ditched. 
That  resolution  was  under  discussion  in  the  House  March  3rd  (1911)— 
the  usual  swan-song  day  for  those  who  failed  to  "arrive"  at  the 
November  election.  Mr.  Weeks,  chairman  of  the  House  Committee 
on  Postoffices  and  Postroads,  led  the  discussion.  The  discussion  was 
participated  in  by  several  Congressmen,  among  whom  was  Congress- 
man Moon  of  Tennessee.  Judge  Moon  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  best 
informed  men  in  Congress  on  postal  matters,  and  particularly 
informed  as  to  present  methods  of  transporting  and  handling  second- 
class  mail.  Mr.  Moon,  though  a  member  of  the  conference  committee 
which  had  just  agreed  to  the  bill,  Senate  resolution  and  all,  as  amended 
in  conference,  quite  vigorously  opposed  the  appropriation  of  $50,000 
of  the  people's  money  for  a  "Commission"  to  investigate  the  cost  of 
transporting  and  handling  second-class  mail  matter.  He  based  his 
opposition  largely  on  the  fact  that  two  or  three  previous  commissions 
had  been  appointed  to  investigate  the  same  question  or  matter ;  that 
these  previous  commissions  had  gone  into  the  subject  thoroughly, 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  17 

had  collected  every  scrap  of  information  that,  under  the  present 
methods,  or  lack  of  method,  in  the  postoffice  department,  it  was  or  is 
possible  to  collect;  that  these  commissions  had  spent  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  the  people's  money;  that  they  had  made  complete  and 
exhaustive  reports  covering  all  the  information  obtained  or  obtain- 
able; that  these  reports  are  on  file  and  easily  accessible,  and  that 
the  postal  committees  of  neither  Senate  nor  House  had  given  any  attention 
or  consideration  to  those  reports. 

From  the  many  trenchant  things  said  by  Mr.  Moon  I  take 
the  following: 

"If  the  gentleman  will  excuse  me  a  minute,  I  am  trying  to  get  to 
another  reason  which  I  want  to  present  to  the  House  as  to  why  I 
deem  it  inappropriate  and  unwise  to  pass  this  legislation.  Now,  when 
the  experts  undertake  to  determine  just  exactly  what  ought  to  be 
paid  for  the  carrying  of  the  magazines,  how  the  government  ought 
to  be  remunerated  for  the  carrying  and  handling  of  these  magazines, 
or  other  second-class  matter,  they  are  bound  to  take  as  the  basis  of 
the  investigation  the  manner  in  which  the  second-class  matter  is  now 
handled  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is  paid  for.  In  other  words,  the 
basis  of  weighing  and  the  computation  of  paying  are  the  basic  facts 
upon  which  they  must  rely  in  order  to  determine  the  question.  I 
undertake  to  say  to  this  House  deliberately,  that  in  view  of  our 
method  of  weighing  and  of  the  computation  of  railway  mail  pay,  that 
no  expert  on  the  face  of  this  earth  can  today  come  within  fifteen  or 
twenty  millions  of  dollars  of  what  the  compensation  ought  to  be  for 
the  transportation  of  second-class  mail. 

"If  every  fact  has  been  adduced  that  would  lead  to  a  proper 
conclusion  as  to  what  the  pay  ought  to  be,  if  we  are  to  go  again  over 
the  same  field  of  investigation  with  no  possibility  of  any  more  light, 
tell  me  what  sense  there  is  in  expending  the  public  money  for  that 
purpose?  And,  then  the  very  minute  you  undertake  to  reach  the 
correct  result  you  are  confronted  with  a  proposition  that  you  cannot 
justly  charge  the  cost  of  transportation  and  handling  to  a  class  of 
matter  flatly  that  in  itself  produces  a  return  to  the  government  in 
another  class  of  matter,  probably  in  excess  of  the  charges  of  transportation 
and  handling  of  that  matter  itself — the  second  class.  How  are  you  to 
draw  the  lines  for  the  determination  of  these  questions  ?  You  are  in 


18  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

the  dark;  it  is  a  chaotic  proposition,  considering  the  method  by 
which  it  must  be  determined  today." 

I  take  it,  that  however  much  they  may  differ  from  him  in  his 
political  and  economic  views,  readers  recognize  in  William  Randolph 
Hearst  one  of  the  most  alert  and  best  informed  men  in  this  country  on 
the  subject  of  publishing  and  distributing  periodical  literature.  He 
certainly  ranks  among  the  largest,  if  he  is  not  indeed  the  largest, 
publisher  and  distributer  of  newspapers  and  other  periodical  prints 
there  is  in  this  country, — yes,  I  may  say,  in  the  world. 

On  February  24,  1911,  a  letter  over  Mr.  Hearst's  signature 
appeared  in  the  Washington  Post.  In  this  communication  he 
touches  upon  the  efficiency — rather  the  inefficiency — of  the  Postoffice 
Department  in  handling  the  postal  service  of  this  country.  I  would 
like  to  reproduce  the  letter  entire,  but  cannot.  I  will,  however, 
reprint  some  of  its  cogent  statements  which  bear  largely  upon  the 
point  under  consideration.  Mr.  Hearst  says: 

I  know  something  about  the  cost  of  distribution  of  publications.  I  know 
something  about  the  reasons  for  the  excessive  cost  of  distribution  of  the  postoffice. 
And  I  say  that  the  high  cost  of  distribution  in  the  postoffice  is  largely  due  to  loose 
and  careless  and  reckless  methods,  to  antiquated  systems  and  incompetent 
management. 

It  is  estimated  that  40  per  cent  of  the  charged  weight  of  mail  matter  is 
composed  of  cumbersome  mail  bags  and  their  heavy  iron  locks  and  fastenings. 

How  absurd  to  imagine  that  a  man  who  wanted  to  break  into  a  mail  bag 
would  be  deterred  by  a  ponderous  lock. 

The  postoffice  department  might  as  well  insist  that  a  burglar-proof  lock  be 
affixed  to  every  letter,  under  the  inane  impression  that  the  only  way  to  tear 
open  a  letter  would  be  to  pick  a  lock. 

I  know,  too,  personally  and  positively,  of  an  instance  where  the  great  mass 
of  western  mail  was  sent  over  one  railroad  and  when  the  bulk  of  it  was  transferred 
to  another  railroad,  all  the  postal  clerks  previously  employed  were  maintained 
on  the  first  railroad  for  over  two  years  after  the  mail  had  been  transferred. 

The  Evening  Journal,  without  any  of  the  powers  of  the  great  United  States 
government  behind  it,  distributes  its  product  for  seven-tenths  of  a  cent  a  pound, 
and  included  in  this  average  is  the  1-cent-a-pound  rate  paid  to  the  government 
for  copies  mailed  Obviously,  then,  the  proportion  of  the  product  which  is  not 
carried  by  the  postoffice  is  delivered  for  much  less  than  seven-tenths  of  a  cent 
per  pound. 

The  New  York  American  distributes  by  mail  and  express  303,584  pounds 
of  daily  and  Sunday  papers  every  week  at  a  cost  of  $1,655.17,  or  little  over  one- 
half  a  cent  per  pound.  This  average  includes  28,028  pounds  sent  by  mail  at  1 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  19 

cent  per  pound,  so,  obviously,  the  average  of  matter  not  distributed  by  mail  is 
less  than  one-half  a  cent  per  pound. 

The  New  York  American  sends  67,268  pounds  of  these  papers  over  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  at  one-fourth  of  a  cent  per  pound,  or  one-fourth  the  rate 
paid  to  the  United  States  postoffice  department. 

That  same  rate — one-fourth  of  a  cent  per  pound — is  exactly  the  rate  charged 
by  the  Canadian  Government  for  carrying  magazines  by  mail  through  its  post- 
office  department  and  for  distributing  them  over  a  thinly  populated  territory 
even  greater  than  the  United  States. 

How  absurd,  then,  to  assert  that  the  government  cannot  distribute  the 
magazines  profitably  at  this  present  rate  when  it  handles  the  magazines  along 
with  all  other  mail  distributed  and  without  any  particular  extra  expense  because 
of  them. 

Even  if,  as  I  said,  the  government  were  handling  the  magazines  at  a  loss, 
it  would  be  doing  a  creditable  thing.  But  it  is  not  handling  the  magazines  at  a 
loss.  It  is  carrying  them  at  a  profit,  and  if  it  taxes  the  magazines  out  of  existence 
it  will  compel  the  postal  department  to  be  conducted  at  a  greater  loss  than  the 
loss  at  which  it  is  now  conducted. 

What  inconsistency,  too,  for  the  administration  to  advocate  a  government 
subsidy  to  restore  a  United  States  merchant  marine  and  at  the  same  time  advocate 
a  measure  to  put  out  of  existence  a  much  more  important  American  institution. 

If  it  is  a  Republican  policy  to  promote  business  and  encourage  industry, 
and  a  proper  Republican  and  American  policy  to  take  money  out  of  the  United 
States  Treasury  to  subsidize  a  private  business  in  order  to  create  an  industry, 
why  is  it  not  a  proper  Republican  and  American  policy  to  continue  to  provide 
a  cheap  mail  rate  in  order  to  maintain  a  great  American  industry  and  perpetuate 
a  mighty  educational  influence  already  existent? 

The  evidence  in  support  of  my  impeachment  of  the  Postoffice 
Department  on  account  of  its  almost  total  lack  of  business  method, 
its  absolute  helplessness  to  tell,  even  with  approximate  accuracy, 
the  loss  of  any  division  of  its  service,  or  the  revenues  resulting  from 
any  given  source  or  class  of  mail  carried,  would  not  be  complete 
without  quoting  Senator  Penrose  and  former  Senator  Carter. 

Senator  Penrose  of  Pennsylvania  is  Chairman  of  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Postoffices  and  Postroads,  and  former  Senator  Carter 
was  conceded  to  be  one  of  the  well  informed  men  on  postal 
matters  in  Congress. 

The  excerpt  from  Senator  Penrose  is  from  an  address  he  made  on 
the  floor  of  the  Senate,  within  the  year,  when  speaking  to  the  subject 
of  second-class  mail  rates,  and  that  from  Mr.  Carter  is  from  his  address 
on  the  same  subject  made  in  March,  1910.  Both  follow: 

It  is  idle  to  take  up  such  questions  as  apportioning  the  cost  for  carrying 


20  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

second-class  mail  matter  or  the  proper  compensation  of  railroads  for  transporting 
the  mails  until  we  shall  have  established  business  methods  in  postoffice  affairs  by 
a  reorganization  of  the  whole  postal  system. — Senator  Penrose. 

I  deeply  sympathize  with  the  earnest  desire  of  the  department  officials  to 
get  rid  of  the  deficiency  they  are  fated  to  encounter  every  year,  but  I  submit  that 
the  first  real  movement  toward  that  end  must  begin  with  the  substitution  of  a 
modern,  up-to-date  business  organization  for  the  existing  antiquated  system. — 
Senator  Carter. 

Comment  on  the  plain,  blunt  statements  of  these  members-of  our 
highest  legislative  body,  each  admittedly  well  informed  on  the  subject 
to  which  he  speaks,  is  quite  unnecessary. 

In  closing  this  division  of  my  subject  I  desire  to  quote  President 
Taf t ;  quote  from  his  message  to  Congress  under  date  of  March  3, 
1911.  It  is  an  illuminating  message  and  forcefully  pertinent  to  the 
point  we  are  considering.  I  would  like  to  reprint  the  entire  document, 
but  fear  I  cannot  do  so.  Of  course,  President  Taft's  strictures  and 
adverse  criticisms  are  general — since  they  apply  to  all  governmental 
departments — but  every  official  in  Washington  knows,  and  none 
better  than  the  President  himself,  that  they  have  both  adhesive  and 
cohesive  qualities  when  applied  to  the  postoffice  department. 

In  this  message-  the  President  asks  for  an  appropriation  of 
$75,000  to  continue  the  work  he  has  already  begun,  that  of  revising 
departmental  methods  of  doing  business  and  of  instituting  a  practical, 
commonsense  system  of  accounting  under  which,  or  from  which,  it 
will  be  possible  for  administrative  and  legislative  officials  to  learn, 
approximately  at  least,  just  what  departments  have  done — to  any 
date — and  just  what  it  has  cost  to  do  it,  two  items  of  information  as 
appears  from  the  message  of  the  Chief  Executive  which  neither  his 
nor  any  previous  administration  has  ever  been  able  to  learn,  and 
is  not  now  able  to  learn  with  any  considerable  degree  of  dependable 
accuracy. 

As  yet  I  have  not  learned  whether  the  President  obtained  the 
$75,000  asked  for.  I  hope  he  did.  If  Congress  will  appropriate 
$750,000  for  the  purpose  the  President  names  in  his  message,  and  sees 
to  it  that  the  money  is  judiciously  and  intelligently  disbursed,  it  is 
the  opinion  of  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  that  not  less  than  $100,000,000 
annually  would  be  saved  in  government  expenditures,  or  one  hundred 
millions  more  of  service,  material,  equipment,  etc.,  delivered  for  the 
money  now  expended. 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS.  21 

Following  is  the  essential  part  of  the  President's  message.     The 
italics  are  the  writer's ; 
To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives: 

I  ask  that  you  include  in  the  sundry  civil  bill  an  appropriation  for  $75,000 
and  a  reappropriation  of  the  unexpended  balance  of  the  existing  appropriation  to 
enable  me  to  continue  my  investigation  by  members  of  the  departments  and  by 
experts  of  the  business  methods  now  employed  by  the  government,  with  a  view  to 
securing  greater  economy  and  efficiency  in  the  dispatch  of  government  business. 

The  chief  difficulty  in  securing  economy  and  reform  is  the  lack  of  accurate 
information  as  to  what  the  money  of  the  government  is  now  spent  for.  Take  the 
combined  statement  of  the  receipts  and  disbursements  of  the  government  for 
the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1910 — a  report  required  by  law,  and  the  only  one 
purporting  to  give  an  analytical  separation  of  the  expenditures  of  the  government. 
This  shows  that  the  expenditures  for  salaries  for  the  year  1910  were  $132,000,000 
out  of  $950,000,000.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  expenditures  for  personal  services 
during  that  year  were  more  nearly  $400,000,000,  as  we  have  just  learned  by  the 
inquiry  now  in  progress  under  the  authority  given  me  by  the  last  congress. 

The  only  balance  sheet  provided  to  the  administrator  or  to  the  legislator  as  a 
basis  for  judgment  is  one  which  leaves  out  of  consideration  all  assets  other  than 
cash,  and  all  liabilities  other  than  warrants  outstanding,  a  part  of  the  trust  liabilities 
and  the  public  debt.  In  the  liabilities  no  mention  is  made  of  about  $70,000,000 
special  and  trust  funds  so  held.  No  mention  is  made  of  outstanding  contracts 
and  orders  issued  as  incumbrances  on  appropriations ;  of  invoices  which  have  not 
been  vouchered;  of  vouchers  which  have  not  been  audited.  It  is,  therefore, 
impossible  for  the  administrator  to  have  in  mind  tlie  maturing  obligations  to  meet 
which  cash  must  be  provided;  there  is  no  means  for  determining  the  relation  of 
current  surplus  or  deficit.  No  operation  account  is  kept,  and  no  statement  of 
operations  is  rendered  showing  the  expenses  incurred — the  actual  cost  of  doing 
business — on  the  one  side,  and  the  revenues  accrued  on  the  other.  There  are  no 
records  showing  the  cost  of  land,  structures,  equipment,  or  the  balance  of  stores 
on  hand  available  for  future  use ;  there  is  no  information  coming  regularly  to  the 
administrative  head  of  the  government  or  his  advisers  advising  them  as  to 
whether  sinking-fund  requirements  have  been  met,  or  of  the  condition  of  trust  funds 
or  special  funds. 

It  has  been  urged  that  such  information  as  is  above  indicated  could  not  be 
obtained,  for  the  reason  that  the  accounts  were  on  a  cash  basis ;  that  they  provide 
for  reports  of  receipts  and  disbursements  only.  But  even  the  accounts  and  reports 
of  receipts  and  disbursements  are  on  a  basis  which  makes  a  true  statement  of 
facts  impossible.  For  example:  All  of  the  trust  receipts  and  disbursements  of 
the  government,  other  than  those  relating  to  currency  trusts,  are  reported  as 
"ordinary  receipts  and  disbursements."  The  daily,  as  well  as  the  monthly  and 
annual  statements  of  disbursements,  are  mainly  made  up  from  advances  to  dis- 
bursing officers — that  is  to  say,  when  cash  is  transferred  from  one  officer  to  another 
it  is  considered  as  spent,  and  the  disbursement  accounts  and  reports  of  the  govern- 
ment so  show  them.  The  only  other  accounts  of  expenditures  on  the  books  of 


22  POSTAL   RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS. 

the  Treasury  are  based  on  audited  settlements  most  of  which  are  months  in  arrears  of 
actual  transactions;  as  between  the  record  of  cash  advanced  to  disbursing  officers  and 
the  accounts  showing  audited  vouchers,  there  is  a  current  difference  of  from 
$400,000,000  to  $700,000,000,  representing  vouchers  which  have  not  been  audited 
and  settled. 

Without  going  into  greater  detail,  the  conditions  under  which  legislators 
and  administrators,  both  past  and  present,  have  been  working  may  be  summarized 
as  follows:  There  have  been  no  adequate  means  provided  whereby  either  the  President 
or  his  advisers  may  act  with  intelligence  on  current  business  before  them;  there  has 
been  no  means  for  getting  prompt,  accurate  and  correct  information  as  to  results 
obtained;  estimates  of  departmental  needs  have  not  been  the  subject  of  thorough  analysis 
and  review  before  submission;  budgets  of  receipts  and  disbursements  have  been 
prepared  and  presented  for  the  consideration  of  Congress  in  an  unscientific  and  un- 
systematic manner;  appropriation  bills  have  been  without  uniformity  or  common 
principle  governing  them;  there  have  been  practically  no  accounts  showing  what  the 
government  owns,  and  only  a  partial  representation  of  what  it  owes;  appropriations 
have  been  overencumbered  without  the  facts  being  known;  officers  of  government  have 
had  no  regular  or  systematic  method  of  having  brought  to  their  attention  the  costs  of 
governmental  administration,  operation  and  maintenance,  and  therefore  could  not 
judge  as  to  the  economy  or  waste;  there  has  been  inadequate  means  whereby  those  who 
served  with  fidelity  and  efficiency  might  make  a  record  of  accomplishment  and  be 
distinguished  from  those  who  were  inefficient  and  wasteful;  functions  and  establish- 
ments have  been  duplicated,  even  multiplied,  causing  conflict  and  unnecessary 
expense;  lack  of  full  information  has  made  intelligent  direction  impossible  and  co- 
operation between  different  branches  of  the  service  difficult. 

I  am  bringing  to  your  attention  this  statement  of  the  present  lack  of  facility 
for  obtaining  prompt,  complete,  and  accurate  information  in  order  that  congress 
may  be  advised  of  the  conditions  which  the  President's  inquiry  into  economy 
and  efficiency  has  found  and  which  the  administration  is  seeking  to  remedy. 
Investigations  of  administrative  departments  by  congress  have  been  many,  each 
with  the  same  result.  All  the  conditions  above  set  forth  have  been  repeatedly 
pointed  out.  Some  benefits  have  accrued  by  centering  public  attention  on  defects 
in  organization,  method,  and  procedure,  but  generally  speaking,  however  salutary 
the  influence  of  legislative  inquiries  (and  they  should  at  all  times  be  welcome),  the 
installation  and  execution  of  methods  and  procedure,  which  will  place  a  premium 
on  economy  and  efficiency  and  a  discount  on  inefficiency  and  waste  must  be  carefully 
worked  out  and  introduced  by  those  responsible  for  the  details  of  administration. 

Does  that  broad  accusation  of  the  President  approve  or  disap- 
prove our  previously  expressed  opinion  of  governmental  department 
service  in  general  and  of  the  postoffice  department  in  particular? 
Notice  the  statements  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  italicize.  Permit 
me  to  repeat  a  few  of  them: 

"The  chief  difficulty  in  securing  economy  and  reform  is  the  lack  of 
accurate  information  as  to  what  the  money  of  the  government  is  spent  for.'' 


POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS.  23 

Does  not  that  fully  bear  out  what  Judge  Moon  said  in  discussing 
the  Senate  resolution  to  appropriate  $50,000  more  for  a  second-class 
mail  commission — devote  fifty  thousand  more  after  the  government 
had  already  spent  several  hundred  thousands  delving  into  the  same 
subject  and  got  little  or  nothing  of  value,  by  reason  of  the  loose, 
careless  and  wasteful  methods  of  the  federal  postal  department? 

"There  is  no  means  for  determining  the 
relation  of  current  surplus  or  deficit." 

An  inmting  business  situation  that,  is  it  not?  Especially 
"inviting"  is  it  to  officials  and  subordinates  who  want  something 
they  have  not  earned,  who  want  to  find  something. 

"No  operation  account  is  kept,  and  no  statement  of  operations 
is  rendered  showing  the  expenses  incurred — the  actual  cost  of  doing 
business — the  actual  cost  of  doing  business  on  the  one  side  and  the 
revenues  accrued  on  the  other." 

Now,  my  dear  reader,  don't  you  know  that  such  a  method  or 
system,  or  lack  of  method  or  system,  would  put  a  western  corn  farm 
in  "financial  distress"  the  first  season  and  out  of  business  the  second? 
A  cattle  ranch,  handled  on  such  loose,  ignorant  methods  would  be 
sold  out  in  a  year.  What,  in  reduction,  does  this  unqualified  state- 
ment of  our  President  mean? 

It  means  that  the  heads  of  governmental  departments  do  not 
know;  that  their  subordinates  do  not  know,  and,  therefore,  our  Presi- 
dent, our  Senators  and  our  Congressmen  do  not  know.  Nor  can  they, 
under  existing  conditions  and  methods,  find  out.  They  cannot  find 
out  even  the  common — the  basic — essentials  of  business  methods  and 
management  which  Job  Fraser,  down  in  "Egypt,"  must  know  in 
order  to  keep  his  hen  range  out  of  bankruptcy. 

Do  you  remember  a  quotation,  some  pages  back,  from  the  joint 
commission  which  investigated  the  postoffice  department?  The 
investigation  which  rummaged  into  the  second-class  mail  schedule 
particularly?  If  you  do  not  remember,  turn  back  and  read  it  again. 
It  fits  like  the  skin  of  an  Alberta  peach  to  what  the  President  has  just 
said  (March  3,  1911),  in  his  message  from  which  we  have  quoted. 

While  collecting  millions  of  revenue  beyond  all  possible  ex- 
penditures, under  competent,  honest  management,  our  federal  post- 
office  department  would  have  gone  into  bankruptcy  save  for  the  back- 
ing of  the  government's  treasury — for  the  backing  of  your  money. 


24  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

"The  only  other  accounts  of  expenditures  on  the  books  of  the 
treasury  are  based  on  audited  settlements,  most  of  which  are  months 
in  arrears  of  actual  transactions;  as  between  the  record  of  cash  ad- 
vanced to  disbursing  officers  and  the  accounts  showing  audited 
vouchers,  there  is  a  current  difference  of  from  $400,000,000  to  $700,000,- 
000,  representing  vouchers  which  have  not  been  audited  and  settled." 

Of  course,  I  do  not  know  how  that  may  strike  the  reader.  It 
strikes  the  writer,  however,  as  being  about  as  near  the  limit  as  any 
individual  or  corporation  could  go  without  falling  over  the  financial 
edge  and  nearer  the  limit  than  any  sensible,  well  and  honestly  directed 
government  should  go. 

Again — No,  I  will  requote  no  more.  Turn  back  and  read  the 
quotation  from  the  President's  message  again.  Read  carefully, 
and  then  read  it  once  more.  Any  citizen,  whose  mental  tires  are  not 
punctured  will  be  not  only  a  wiser  but  a  bigger  and  better  citizen 
for  having  done  so. 

It  was  my  intention  to  close  this  division  of  my  subject  with  the 
excerpts  from  President  Taft's  message.  My  attention  however  was 
called  to  a  move  made  by  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock,  and  an 
interview  had  with  him  bearing  on  said  move.  It  was  taken  note  of 
and  "spaced"  by  a  majority  of  the  newspapers  having  general  circu- 
lation in  the  United  States.  What  I  shall  here  quote  is  taken  from 
a  Chicago  paper  of  date  April  1,  and  the  "write-up,"  nearly  a  column, 
is  based,  it  is  probable,  on  a  wire  to  the  journal  either  from  its  Wash- 
ington correspondent  or  a  news  agency.  As  the  article  appeared  in 
so  many  newspapers  I  take  it  that  the  information  conveyed  is  en- 
tirely dependable. 

From  the  write-up  it  appears  that  Postmaster  General  Hitch- 
cock has  made  "a  round  dozen"  of  changes  among  the  postal  officials 
in  the  railway  mail  service.  Some  of  the  changes  were  promotions — on 
the  government's  pay  roll — changes  of  division  superintendents 
from  one  division  to  another,  shifting  of  division  chief  clerks  and 
of  division  inspectors,  etc.,  etc.  Theodore  Ingalls,  formerly  super- 
intendent of  "rural  mails,"  is  now  superintendent  of  the  "railway 
mail  service,"  succeeding  Alexander  Grant,  who,  the  friendly  space 
writer  says,  "is  one  of  the  most  widely  known  postoffice  officials  in  the 
service."  Whether  favorably  or  unfavorably  known,  the  write-up 
sayeth  not.  At  any  rate,  Mr.  Grant  goes  to  the  St.  Paul  division  of 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  25 

the  railway  mail  service  at  $1,000  per  year  less  than  he  formerly 
drew  from  the  postoffice  department  funds.  Per  contra,  Mr.  Ingalls 
steps  from  "rurals"  to  railway  mails  at  an  increase  of  $1,000.  The 
other  "round  dozen"  changes  are  of  similar  character,  though 
affecting  positions  subordinate  or  minor  to  the  ones  named. 
No  dismissals,  just  shifting  the  official  pegs  around,  possibly  for  the 
"good  of  the  service,"  as  Mr.  Hitchcock  says;  possibly  for  other 
reasons.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock 
stated  the  entire  truth  and  that  these  changes  are  for  the  good  of  the 
service.  The  railway  mail  service  is  certainly  in  dire  need  of  better- 
ment, as  the  reader  will  learn  before  I  finish,  if  he  but  has  the  interest 
and  the  patience  to  follow  me  to  the  end. 

Why  Mr.  Hitchcock  did  not  make  some  twelve  hundred  changes  in 
the  railway  mail  service  instead  of  a  "round  dozen," — and  many  of 
them  dismissals — I  do  not  know.  Perhaps  Mr.  Hitchcock  does 
know.  Let  us  hope  he  does  and  be  thankful  for  small  favors.  Many 
people,  however,  who  have  watched  the  Postoffice  Department's 
maneuverings  during  the  past  forty  years  have  seen  too  many  "Sun- 
day Editions"  put  to  mail  to  be  fooled  by  any  of  this  "shake-up"  talk. 
This  shifting  of  the  official  shoats  from  one  pen  to  another,  still  leaving 
them  with  their  noses  and  four  feet  in  the  trough,  is  a  too  common  and 
well  known  practice  in  the  police  and  other  public  safety  departments 
of  our  larger  cities  to  fool  anybody  who  has  had  his  eyes  open  since 
the  first  full  moon  in  April,  1868. 

Shake-ups  which  do  not  retire  incompetent  or  "faulted"  public 
officials  and  servants,  just  as  a  "faulted"  casting  is  rejected  at 
"milling,"  is  not  a  "shake-up"  that  will  stand  good  in  any  strata  of 
human  intelligence  above  that  found  in  asylums  for  broken-down 
cerebral  equipment.  It  is  betterments,  not  "shake-ups,"  that  are 
needed. 

The  reader  will  please  understand  that  there  is  no  personal 
animus  in  what  I  here — or  elsewhere — write.  I  have  not  had  the 
pleasure,  and  possibly  the  honor,  of  personal  acquaintance  with  Mr. 
Ingalls,  Mr.  Grant  and  others  of  the  "round  dozen"  involved  in  the 
Postmaster  General's  "shake-up."  They  are  probably  all  fine 
gentlemen  personally,  whom  it  would  be  a  privilege  to  meet  and  to 
know.  But  we  are  writing  to  a  subject  infinitely  larger  than  any  man 
or  set  of  men. 


26  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

The  people  of  this  country  are  "up  against"  a  postal  service 
proposition — a  proposition  so  stupendous  in  import,  so  farreach- 
ing  in  its  application,  so  crucial  in  its  effects  upon  us  and  the 
children  who  follow  us,  and  involving  service  so  incompetent,  so 
wasteful,  so  corrupt  in  its  management  and  operation  as  to  have  ap- 
palled those  of  us  who  have  watched  and  studied  its  practices,  and  to 
have  become  a  joke,  provoking  a  smile  or  laugh  among  postal 
officials  of  other  nations  who  render  a  service  that  serves. 

For  upward  of  forty  years — a  few  bright  spots  excepted — our 
Postoffice  Department  has  shown  itself  not  only  incompetent  in  the 
matter  of  business  management,  but  disregardf ul  in  serving  the  people 
who  pay  for  the  service.  I  am  aware  this  is  a  bald  statement,  a  "mere 
assertion,"  some  postoffice  official  or  sinecure  postal  "servant"  may 
say,  but  it  will  have  to  be  said  more  often,  more  carefully  and  studiedly 
and  far  more  eloquently,  in  order  to  have  it  believed  outside  the 
family  circle  than  it  ever  has  heretofore  been  said  to  get  the  people 
of  this  country  to  stand  for  it. 

In  the  "write-up"  annexed  to  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock's 
few  paragraphs  of  interview,  the  "space"  artist  gives  us,  in  epitome, 
the  biography  of  the  men  Mr.  Hitchcock  promotes  and  demotes  in 
that  "round  dozen"  of  changes.  Some  of  my  readers  may  have 
scanned  the  "booster"  newspaper  stuff  of  which  I  am  writing.  If  so, 
much  of  what  I  have  here  said  may  be  bricks  or  straw,  just  as  it  may 
happen  that  they  know  or  do  not  know  the  true  "innards"  of  the 
service  status  of  this  Postoffice  Department  of  ours.  I  will  not  do 
more  here  than  to  point  to  the  epitome  biographical  sketches 
of  the  promotes  and  demotes  in  the  friendly  "write-up." 

In  substance  it  says  that  Mr.  Ingalls  "is  a  highly  trained  postal 
official"  and  "entirely  familiar  with  the  railway  mail  system,  having 
begun  his  postal  work  in  that  service." 

Now,  we  all  sincerely  hope  that  is  true.  I  once  ran  a  sawmill, 
but,  candidly,  I  do  not  believe  that  any  sensible  business  man  would 
hire  me  today  to  run  his  saws  in  any  mill  turning  out  mixed  cuts.  It 
may  be  that  Mr.  Ingalls  has  accumulated  just  the  proper,  and  the 
proper  amount  of,  information  in  superintending  "rurals"  to 
enable — to  qualify — him  to  manage  and  direct  that  case-hardened, 
looting  division  known  as  the  Railway  Mail  Service.  Let  us  hope 
that  he  knows  how  to  do  it. 


POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  27 

In  the  past  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  it  has  been  conclusively 
shown  that  the  postoffice  department,  en  tout,  knows  about  as  much 
concerning  the  railroad  end  of  the  railway  mail  service  as  a  mongrel 
spitz  poodle  knows  of  astronomy. 

So  I  might  comment  on  other  names  mentioned  in  the  write- 
up  of  this  "shake-up"  of  our  Postmaster  General.  They  have  all 
been  good  men.  Possibly  they  each  and  all  are  good  men  yet — for  the 
jobs  to  which  the  Postmaster  General  has  promoted  or  demoted  them. 
The  people  may  appreciate  and  even  honor  Jim  Jones  because  he 
"worked  his  way  up"  from  mail  carrier  on  a  rural  route  at  Rabbit 
Hash,  Mississippi,  to  Superintendent  of  the  Cincinnati  Division  or  the 
St.  Paul  Division  of  the  railway  mail  service,  and  even  more  so,  if  he 
got  stilted  to  the  position  of  "Superintendent  of  the  Railway  Mail 
Service."  Still,  listen.  While  we,  the  people,  at  Rabbit  Hash,  Missis- 
sippi, may  be  entirely  satisfied  to  see  our  boy,  Jim  Jones,  move  up  the 
ladder  to  official  honor  and  salary,  how  about  you  other  93,- 
760,000  people?  You  want  prompt,  cheap  service  in  the  railway 
mail  and  our  Jim  Jones  fails  to  give  it  to  you, — fails  when  you  know 
the  conditions  and  the  facilities  are  at  call  and  command  to  give  it 
to  you. 

What  is  the  answer  ?  Simply  that  you  93,760,000  other  folks  may 
not  think  so  well  of  our  Jim  Jones'  railway  mail  service  ability — or 
business  ability — as  we  of  Rabbit  Hash  may  think. 

Now  I  have  said  enough  about  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock's 
"shake-up."  What  I  have  not  said  the  intelligent  reader  will  readily 
infer — and  there  is  a  whole  lot  to  be  inferred. 

At  the  outset  I  intended  to  quote  Mr.  Hitchcock — quote  Mr. 
Hitchcock  himself — in  evidence  or  proof  of  my  previously  made  and 
repeated  statement,  that  the  Postoffice  Department  is  incompe- 
tently, is  waste) ully,  if  not  crookedly,  managed  and  directed. 

I  am  now  going  to  quote  Mr.  Hitchcock.  Of  course,  he  here 
speaks  of  only  the  railway  mail  service.  It  is  admittedly 
one  of  the  worst  divisions  for  waste  and  steal.  But  there  are  others 
scarcely  a  neck  behind. 

The  subjoined  dispatch  states  (March  31,  1911),  that  "while 
signing  the  orders  necessary  for  the  changes  Mr.  Hitchcock  said:" 

The  investigation  which  we  conducted  so  long  and  so  carefully  indicated 


28  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

clearly  that  the  action  which  I  have  taken  was  absolutely  necessary.    The  railway 
mail  service  has  suffered  greatly  from  poor  management  and  lack  of  supervision . 

In  certain  of  the  divisions  it  was  found  that  the  chief  clerks  had  not  been 
inspecting  their  lines,  as  was  their  duty.  Some  of  the  routes  had  received  no 
inspection  for  several  years 

The  inquiry  showed  that  the  business  methods  of  the  service  in  several 
offices  were  antiquated  and  that,  as  a  consequence,  there  was  much  duplication  of 
work.  Instructions  from  the  department  directing  improvements,  as  for  example 
the  proper  consolidation  of  mail  matter  and  the  conservation  of  equipment, 
received  only  perfunctory  attention. 

There  had  been  a  lack  of  co-operation  also  in  carrying  into  effect  certain 
reforms  which  I  had  indicated,  and  it  was  made  evident  by  the  inquiry  that  no 
proper  spirit  of  co-ordination  with  the  department  existed  in  the  railway  mail  service. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    UNCONSTITUTIONAL    RIDER. 

We  will  now  give  our  consideration  to  Postmaster  General 
Hitchcock  and  the  "rider."  I  may  say  some  plain,  blunt  things  of 
him.  If  so,  it  is  because  I  believe  Mr.  Hitchcock's  official  action  and 
statements  touching  the  recent  legislative  move  were  a  deliberate, 
calculated  attempt  to  ruin  some  of  the  greatest  periodicals  the  world 
has  ever  known,  yes,  the  greatest  periodicals  the  world  has  ever  known. 
Not  only  was  it  that,  but  the  method  and  time  of  presentation  in  the 
session,  as  well  as  the  questionable  secretiveness  of  that  official  in 
preparing  and  advancing  the  measure, supply  reasonably  valid  grounds 
for  the  charge  frequently  made  that  this  attempt  at  "snap"  legis- 
lation was  but  a  step  in  a  conspiracy  to  throttle  the  periodical  press, 
to  place  a  muzzle  on  the  most  effective  means  of  education  which  our 
people  have  had  during  the  past  two  decades. 

Nationally  we  have  far  departed  from  the  mudsill  principles  of 
the  democratic  polity  which  our  founders  in  their  best  judgment  had 
framed  for  us  and  bespattered  the  forest  paths  of  the  country  with 
their  blood  to  maintain  for  us — the  forest  paths  not  alone  of  the 
Atlantic  states  but  also  of  those  vast  acquisitions  in  the  West,  known 
in  history  as  the  Northwest  Territory  and  the  Louisiana  purchases,out 
of  which  the  fathers  carved  so  many  imperial  states.  So  far  indeed 
have  we  departed  from  those  principles,  regained  from  tyranny  and 
maintained  for  us  by  the  founders  and  builders  of  this  governmental 
polity,  that  their  original  intent  has  been  lost  sight  of  by  many  of  our 
people. 

As  a  result  of  the  struggle  for  subsistence  on  the  one  hand  and 
corrupt  political  practice  on  the  other,  we  are  traveling  rapidly  toward 
the  old,  old  way.  As  the  kilted  Scots  put  it,  quoting  Bulwer  Lytton, 
we  are  rapidly  reaching  that  view  of  life  which  leads  men,  in  the  heat 
of  a  justified  anger,  to  say  "Happy  is  the  man  whose  father  went  to 
the  devil ;"  meaning  thereby  that  our  sons  can  be  happy  if  we  manage 
to  steal  and  loot  enough  from  the  government,  or  from  our  fellow 
citizens  through  governmental  favor  and  protection,  to  build  for  those 

29 


30  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

sons  stone  fronts  on  "Easy  street"  and  leave  a  bank  balance  and 
"vested  interests"  sufficient  to  maintain  them. 

People  happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  unearned  wealth  seldom 
make  good,  safe  or  dependable  judges  or  lawmakers  for  people  who 
are  unhappy. 

There  may  be,  of  course,  some  rare  exceptions  to  that  statement. 
The  history  of  twenty  centuries,  however — yes,  of  forty  centuries — • 
has  shown  very  few  of  them.  This  may  appear  to  some  as  a  digres- 
sion from  my  subject.  Well,  so  count  it,  if  you  will.  I  have  made  it 
as  a  "foreword"  for  three  statements  I  wish  to  make — statements 
cogently  asserted  in  support  of  an  assertion  made  some  paragraphs 
back, 

Mr.  Hitchcock,  in  both  action  and  advocacy,  has  not  only  been  a 
conspicuous  member,  as  newspapers  and  other  reports  show,  but  a 
leading  factor,  in  the  gang  of  "influenced"  mercenaries  and  aspiring 
politicians  who  sought  to  "submerge"  certain  periodicals  which  for 
ten  or  more  years  have  been  telling  the  people  the  truth — the  truth 
about  crooked  corporation  practices  and  about  crooked  public  officials. 

I  am  here  going  to  make  those  three  statements.  I  believe  them 
statements  of  fact.  Think  them  over.  Study  them.  If,  after,  you 
think  I  am  wrong  or  overstate  the  facts,  then — well,  then,  that  is  your 
affair,  not  mine.  Remember,  I  write  with  a  club — not  a  pencil. 

The  first  of  the  three  statements  I  wish  here  to  make  is:  The 
social  and  political  polity  which  patriotic  and  liberty-loving  progeni- 
tors gave  us,  established  for  us,  has  been  adroitly  led  from  its  pre- 
scribed way.  Today  our  governmental  and  social  organizations  are 
rich  in  policemen,  soldiers,  prisons,  poorhouses,  organized  charities, 
charity  balls,  owners  of  unearned  wealth  and  in  politicians  who  helped 
those  owners  to  acquire  that  unearned  wealth  and  who  furthermore 
continue  to  p/otect  them  in  its  possession. 

The  second  statement  I  wish  my  readers  to  consider  is:  The 
periodical  monthlies  and  weeklies  (and  a  few  "yellow"  newspapers), 
which  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  his  coterie  of  conspirators  would  muzzle 
or,  by  laying  an  excessive  mail  rate  upon  them,  suppress  or  ruin — and 
incidentally,  make  the  Postmaster  General  an  unrestrained  censor 
of  the  country's  periodical  literature 

Those  periodicals,  I  started  to  say,  have  given  more  real  edu- 
cational benefit  to  the  adult  population  of  this  country  during  the 


POSTAL    RIDERS    AND   RAIDERS.  31 

past  ten    years   than   has   been  given   by   all   the   "little   red   school 
houses,"  colleges,  universities,  and  churches  combined. 

I  do  not,  as  you  will  notice,  include  the  "political  stump."  I  do 
not  care  to  comment  on  its  peculiar  didactic  value  or  fascination  for 
fools.  That  means  both  you  and  me,  reader.  We  each,  occasionally, 
go  to  hear  the  political  "stumper"  tell  us  a  lot  of  "influenced''  lies. 

The  third  statement  I  wish  to  make  is:  Postmaster  General 
Hitchcock  is,  so  far  as  the  writer  has  been  able  to  learn,  a  politician. 
Not  only  is  he  a  politician,  the  reports  read,  but  he  is  a  wise,  smooth 
and  "ambitious"  politician. 

That  is  bad.     "Why?"     Well,  because  an  "ambitious"  politician 

is  about  as  useful  to  us,  to  you  and  to  me,  as  are  bugs  in  our  potato 

patch,  or  dry  rot  in  our  sheep  herd.     The  "ambitious"  politician  is 

a  disease,  attacking  either  our  kitchen  garden  or  our  mutton  supply. 

"What's  the  answer?" 

Here  is  one  answer:  It  is  a  long  way  between  "three 
rooms  rear  and  a  palace."  But  even  they  who  crawl  about  the 
earth,  begging  for  leave  to  live,  see  things,  hear  things,  feel  things,  and 
read  things.  They  are  beginning  to  understand  much  of  what  they 
see,  Jiear,  feel  and  read. 

Is  that,  Mr.  Hitchcock,  a  reason,  one  of  the  reasons,  why  you 
who  have  so  energetically,  likewise  offensively,  tried  to  shut  us  out 
from  our  main  source  of  information,  from  our  mental  commissary? 

Arise,  please,  and  answer. 

There  are  still  other  remarks  which  I  must  make  about  Mr. 
Hitchcock's  peculiar  recent  action  and  talk.  It  may  not  be  at  all 
pleasant  to  him.  Yet  the  statements  I  shall  make,  I  am  ready  to 
support  by  a  "cloud  of  witnesses." 

As  before  stated,  this  attempt  to  muzzle  the  press  of  the  country, 
for  that  appears  to  be  the  ultimate,  likewise  the  ulterior,  purpose  of 
Mr.  Hitchcock  and  his  coterie  of  senatorial  and  other  abettors  in 
their  recent  attempt  to  outrage  the  constitutional  rights  of  our  people, 
the  constitutional  rights  of  the  Lower  House  and  the  rules  of  both 
Senate  and  House,  as  Senator  Robert  L.  Owen,  in  brief  but 
pertinent  remarks  in  the  recent  closing  days  of  the  late  session 
(February  25,  1911),  pointed  out, — remarks  rife  with  the  cogency 
of  truth. 

In  a  previous  paragraph  I  stated,  in    effect,  that    Postmaster 


32  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

General  Hitchcock  is  an  "influenced"  man  or  a  densely  ignorant  one. 
That  he  is  densely  ignorant  oh  matters  pertaining  to  periodical  pub- 
lications has  been  amply  evidenced  by  subsequent  quotations  from 
his  own  reports  and  letters.  That  he  at  least  shares  the  prevailing 
ignorance  as  to  the  methods,  and  the  result  of  methods,  for  hand- 
ling the  vast  business  of  the  federal  Postoffice  Department,  I  have 
already  pointed  out. 

Possibly  I  am  in  error  here,  but  when  Senators  and  Congress- 
men who  have  studied  for  years  the  methods  of  handling  business  in 
the  Postoffice  Department  were — and  are — convinced  that  it  is  im- 
possible for  the  most  expert  accountants  to  collect  and  collate  depend- 
able information,  relating  either  to  any  of  its  divisions  of  service  or  to 
the  department  in  general ;  when  old  and  tried  students  of  the 
loose,  wasteful  methods  of  this  department,  of  its  utter  lack  of  business 
system,  yes,  of  its  crooks  and  crookedness — when,  I  say,  such  exper- 
ienced students  frankly  and  bluntly  state  their  complete  inability 
to  gather  any  dependable  data  as  to  the  business  done  by  Mr. 
Hitchcock's  department,  I  am  in  doubt  as  to  the  correctness,  or 
lack  of  correctness,  in  my  previous  intimation  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  is 
ignorant  of  his  departmental  affairs  and  practices,  as  well  as  of 
matters  pertaining  to  periodical  publication  and  distribution. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  has  been  at  the  head  of  his  department  something 
like  three  years,!  believe.-  He  has  talked  so  much  and  written  so 
much  about  postal  "deficits,"  about  the  cause  of  those  deficits  and 
how  to  remedy  them  by  holding  up  periodical  publishers,  that,  maybe, 
he  has  learned  more  about  his  department,  more  about  deficits  and 
the  cause  of  them — learned  more  about  these  things  in  threeyears  than 
older  and  more  experienced  men  have  learned  in  ten  years — yes, 
twenty. 

Maybe  he  has.  If  so,  then  I  was  in  error  when  I  intimated 
that  his  ignorance  extended  to  departmental  matters  as  well  as  to 
periodical  publishing.  If,  however,  I  was  in  error  as  to  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock's knowledge  of  his  departmental  matters,  I  find  myself  in  a 
multitudinous  and  growing  company  of  intelligent  and  informed 
people  to  whom  he  will  have  to  talk  and  write  much  more,  and  to  talk 
and  write  far  more  eloquently,  persuasively  and  wisely  than  he  has 
thus  far  talked  and  written,  to  convince  them  that  he  has  accumulated 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  33 

more  departmental  wisdom  in   three  years  than   numerous   older 
students  of  the  subject  gathered  in*ten. 

What  training  or  opportunity  Mr.  Hitchcock  had,  previous  to 
his  installation  in  his  present  position,  to  qualify  him  for  the  office — 
training  and  opportunity  which  enabled  him  to  grasp  so  compre- 
hensively, as  he  would  have  it  appear,  the  duties,  functions,  faults 
in  accounting,  frailties  in  the  service  personnel, — in  short,  all  the 
essentials  of  knowledge  and  information  pertaining  to  a  competent 
administration  of  the  department,  general,  divisional  and  in  detail, 
I  do  not  know. 

Of  course,  Mr.  Frank  H.  Hitchcock  was  chairman  of  the  Repub- 
lican National  Committee  in  1908,  which  committee,  with  the  aid  of 
"a  very  limited  campaign  fund,"  as  one  colossally  profound  "stump- 
er" put  it,  steered  the  votes  to  Judge  Taft  and  himself  to  his  present 
exalted  position.  Now,  this  experience  of  Mr.  Hitchcock  may  or  may 
not  have  especially  qualified  him  for  ready,  quick  and  comprehensive 
understanding  of  all  that  the  Postoffice  Department  needs  to  make  it 
yield  even  a  half  of  what  the  people  of  this  country  are  today  paying 
for. 

It  may  have  done  so.  Thoughtful  people,  however,  are  numer- 
ously entertaining  a  private  opinion,  and  thousands  of  them  are 
publicly  expressing  it,  to  the  effect  that,  so  far,  Mr.  Hitchcock's 
voluminous  talk  about  the  affairs,  methods,  needs  and  "deficits" 
of  his  department  displays  a  knowledge  of  the  subjects  he  talks  about 
far  more  comprehensive  than  comprehending.  That  is,  he  has  talked 
assertively  or  persuasively,  as  his  auditor  or  audience  fit  into  his 
purpose,  upon  numerous  departmental  phases  of  administration, 
regarding  which  final  analysis  in  the  crucible  of  "plain  hoss  sense" 
shows  he  knows  little. 

And  he  knew  less  when  he  talked  than  he  now  knows.  The 
periodical  publishers  of  the  country  have  been  "handing  him"  some 
information,  after  they  got  notice  of  what  he  was  trying  "to  put  over," 
since  he  went  to  President  Taft  not  later  than  October  or  mid-November 
last.  I  say  that,  because  President  Taft  covered  Mr.  Hitchcock's 
idea  (or  scheme)  of  removing  the  postal  department  deficit  in  his 
December  message  for  1910. 

Now,  did  Mr.  Hitchcock  influence  President  Taft,  or  did 
President  Taft  influence  Mr.  Hitchcock? 


34  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

That  is  the  question ;  whether  it  is  better  to  be  the  "influenced" 
or  the  "influences  "  • 

The  above  query  may  be  awkward,  or  even  an  uncouth  way  to 
state  the  question,  but  in  evidence  that  it  is  a  question  with  thoughtful 
people — informed  people.  I  desire  here  to  quote  some  statements 
written  by  *Samuel  G.  Blythe.  With  no  thought  of  discriminating 
praise  1  can  positively  say  that  Samuel  G.  Blythe  stands  with  the  best 
of  you  boys  who  are  doing  so  much  for  our  enlightenment — FOR  OUR 

EDUCATION — IN    MATTERS    RELATING    TO     OUR     NATIONAL     GOVERN- 
MENT. 

Is  not  that  right,  boys? 

I  hear  a  unanimous  "aye." 

In  this  connection,  however,!  wish  to  remind  you  boys  that  many 
of  you — most  of  you,  probably — have  done  as  much  to  help  the  peo- 
ple of  the  country  in  your  local  fields  of  interest  and  activity  as  you 
have  done  to  enlighten  us  as  to  Washington's  politics,  policies  and 
tangential  peculiarities. 

With  this  explanation  for  my  taking  our  "Sam"  instead  of  you 
other  boys  for  quotation,  maybe  mutilation,  just  here  in  the  context 
of  this  book,  I  may  add  that  his  article  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post 
of  date,  April  15,  1911,  is  before  me.  It  so  fits  the  point  I  am  now 
considering — whether  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  was"influenced" 
or  "influencing" — that  I  am  going  to  quote,  and,  possibly,  take  all 
sorts  of  liberties  with  Mr.  Blythe's  splendid  presentation  of  Mr. 
Hitchcock's  attitude,  action  and  animus. 

Mr.  Blythe,  in  his  article  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post,  (pub- 
lished by  the  Curtis  Publishing  Company,  Philadelphia,  and,  by  the 
way,  one  of  the  most  educative  weekly  periodicals  the  world  has  ever 
known),  tells  us  something  of  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock's 
procedure  since  in  office. 

I  am  here  going  to  appropriate  some  of  the  information  furnished 
in  Mr.  Blythe's  article.  Whether  I  use  quotation  marks  or  not,  1 
want  the  reader  to  know  that  Samuel  G.  Blythe  has  "wised  me  up  a 

*Now,  see  here,  Samuel,  if  you  have  any  knock  to  make  about  the  liber- 
ties I  may  take  with  your  Saturday  Evening  Post  informative  article,  knock 
me,  not  my  publisher.  I  may  quote  and  even  disfigure  a  little,  but  I  as- 
sure you  the  latter  will  be  far  this  side  of  the  ambulance 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  35 

heap"  regarding  our  Postmaster  General's  peculiar  official  gyrations 
since  the  latter  arrived  on  his  present -job. 

First,  it  would  appear  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  arrived  with  the 
"deficit"  in  his  brain.  I  mean,  of  course,  the  Postoffice  Department 
deficit  was  on  his  mind,  and  being  fresh  from  that  state  of  splendid 
attainments  and  beans — Massachusetts — Mr.  Hitchcock  came  to  his 
job  brimful  of  nerve,  purpose  and  postal  service  deficits.  He  was 
determined  to  do  things,  especially  to  that  deficit.  Well,  he  has  been 
doing  things,  but  scarcely  in  a  way  that  one  would  expect  from  a 
man  coming  from  the  people  who  grow  up  there.  The  writer  can- 
not say  whether  or  not  Mr.  Hitchcock  "growed  up  there."  If  he 
did,  some  cog  must  have  slipped  or  "jammed"  in  his  raising.  Most 
born  Plymouth  rock  men  whom  I  have  met,  and  I  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  many,  start  out,  and  live,  on  life  lines  which 
clearly  and  cleanly  recognize  the  fact  that  the  end  is  on  its  way,  and 
that  they  are  going  to  meet  it — meet  it  with  a  brave,  honest  face  and 
a  moral  courage  that  will  answer  "Here"  at  the  final  round-up. 

I  presume,  however,  there  are  a  few  Easterners  who  grow 
haughty,  supercilious  and  dictatorial  in  proportion  to  the  square  of 
the  distance  they  are  removed  (by  fortuitous  circumstance,  political 
preferment  or  other  means),  from  the  "down-row"  in  the  fall  husking, 
the  spring  plowing,  the  free  lunch  and  other  symptoms  of  human 
industry  or  need. 

This  is  wholly  an  "aside."  How  it  may  apply  to  Mr.  Hitchcock 
must  be  left  to  readers  who  have  a  more  intimate  personal  acquaint- 
ance with  him  than  have  I. 

At  any  rate,  he  came  to  his  present  official  job,  it  appears  from 
most  dependable  information,  with  a  "deficit" — the  postal  service 
deficit,  of  course — in  his  mind,  and  he  immediately  began  in  his 
vigorous,  though  somewhat  peculiar,  way  to  work  it  off.  Whether 
his  dominating  intent  was  to  work  that  deficit  off  the  department 
books  or  merely  work  it  off  his  mind,  has  not  thus  far  appeared,  save, 
of  course,  to  the  coterie  in  the  circle  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's  intimates 
and  a  somewhat  numerous  body  of  periodical  and  newspaper  reporters 
on  the  job  in  Washington. 

The  latter,  of  course,  know  everything.  And  what  they  don't 
know  they  go  to  all  extremes  to  find  out.  It  was,  therefore,  a  hopeless 
attempt  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's  (though  he  yet  seems  scarcely  able  to 


36  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

understand  how  so  much  information  got  to  the  public),  to  keep  his 
scheme  to  remove  the  Postoffice  Department's  deficit  by  shunting  the 
whole  of  it  onto  some  twenty  or  thirty  periodicals — it  was,  I  say,  a 
hopeless  task  for  him  to  keep  that  scheme  safely  within  the  periphery 
of  the  corral  where  herded  the  "influenced"  and  the  "influencing." 
But  why  go  on?  Mr.  Blythe  in  his  article  tells  some  things  I 
want  to  say  and  he  says  them  so  much  better  than  I  can  tell  them 
that  I  will  give  the  reader  the  benefit  of  that  difference  and  quote 
him  on  a  number  of  points.  As  showing  the  studied  attempt  at  snap 
legislation  in  the  very  closing  hours  of  Congress,  Mr.  Blythe  says: 

The  Sixty-first  Congress  expired  by  constitutional  limitation  at  noon  on 
March  4th,  last.  On  Friday  afternoon,  March  3,  the  postoffice  appropriation 
bill  was  up  for  consideration  in  the  Senate.  It  was  being  read  for  committee 
amendments.  At  half  past  4  page  21  of  the  bill  was  reached,  and  with  it  the 
amendment  proposed  by  the  Senate  Committee  on  Postoffices  and  Postroads  to 
increase  the  rate  of  second-class  postage  in  certain  specified  cases  and  in  certain 
contingencies.  Second-class  postage  is  the  postage  paid  by  newspapers,  maga- 
zines and  periodicals. 

There  had  been  several  speeches.  Senator  Carter  spoke  for  the  amendment, 
and  Senators  Bristow,  Cummins  and  Owen  against  it.  Senator  Jones,  of  Washing- 
ton, had  a  few  observations  in  favor  of  the  amendment  also.  At  5  o'clock 
Senator  Boies  Penrose,  Chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Postoffices  and  Post- 
roads  and  in  charge  of  the  bill,  rose  in  his  place,  withdrew  the  amendment 
increasing  second-class  postage,  and  submitted  in  its  stead  an  amendment  pro- 
viding for  a  commission  to  investigate  the  question  of  fact  concerning  the  cost  to 
the  Postoffice  Department  for  transportation  of  second-class  mail  matter.  This 
amendment  was  unanimously  adopted  and  the  Senate  proceeded  to  the  consider- 
ation of  other  sections  of  the  bill. 

Postmaster-General  Hitchcock  sat  immediately  behind  Senator  Penrose 
when  this  happened.  He  had  been  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  most  of  that  after- 
noon, and  a  great  portion  of  the  time  for  several  days  previous  when  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  postoffice  bill  seemed  imminent.  When  Senator  Penrose  withdrew 
the  amendment, the  Postmaster  General's  strenuously  urged  plan  to  use  the  taxing 
power  of  the  government  to  make  himself  a  censor,  with  almost  unlimited  power 
to  declare  what  magazine  and  what  periodical  should  be  taxed  and  what  magazine 
and  what  periodical  should  not  be  taxed;  to  give  himself  the  sole  determining 
power  to  decide  what  is  a  newspaper  and  what  is  a  periodical — his  long  conceived 
plan,  perfected  quietly,  put  into  preliminary  execution  without  warning  to  those 
concerned,  to  be  jammed  through  if  possible,  failed  and  failed  utterly. 

Mr.  Blythe  also  refers  to  the  fight  Postmaster  General  Hitch- 
cock put  up  against  investigation.  Here  I  desire  to  quote  him  at  some 
length : 

The  Postmaster  General  had  enlisted  the  President.     He  had  put  it  up  to  the 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND    RAIDERS.  37 

Republicans  on  the  Senate  Postoffice  committee  as  an  Administration  measure  to 
be  supported  by  administration  men.  He  got  the  President  to  use  the  same  argu- 
ment. He  contrived  an  amendment,  after  much  labor,  so  drawn  as  to  give  him 
the  greatest  powers  of  discretion  in  the  application  of  the  increase  in  second-class 
postage.  He  had  the  regulation  of  the  magazine  and  periodical  press  of  this 
country  in  his  own  hands,  he  thought ;  and  he  was  preparing  to  regulate  it  accord- 
ing to  his  ideas — when  he  met  with  a  sudden  check.  It  was  a  good  scheme,  a 
farreaching  scheme,  but  it  didn't  go  through.  The  Postmaster  General,  being  a 
small-bore  politician,  took  a  small-bore  view  of  the  situation.  He  underestimated 
the  force  of  public  opinion. 

It  is  my  purpose  to  tell  here  the  full  story  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's  attempt  to  put 
through  this  legislation.  Before  starting,  however,  there  is  this  to  be  said: 
There  never  has  been  a  minute,  since  this  contention  began,  considerably  more 
than  a  year  ago,  when  the  publishers  of  the  country  have  not  been  willing  to 
submit  the  disputed  question  of  fact  to  a  proper  tribunal,  to  determine  exactly 
what  it  should  cost  the  government  to  transport  second-class  mail.  There  never 
has  been  a  minute  when  the  publishers  of  the  country  have  not  been  willing  to 
pay  exactly  what,  under  a  businesslike  administration  of  the  department,  it 
should  cost  to  transport  their  publications.  They  do  not  desire  any  subsidy  from 
the  government,  and  never  have.  The  publishers  have  held  that  the  statement 
of  Hitchcock  that  it  costs  9  cents  a  pound  to  carry  second-class  matter  is  absurd ; 
and  they  have  further  held  that  if  the  postoffice  department  were  run  on  proper 
business  principles,  instead  of  being  run  as  a  political  machine,  there  would  be 
no  deficit. 

Notwithstanding,  Mr.  Hitchcock  fought  the  idea  of  a  commission  to  the  last 
gasp.  He  spent  day  after  day  at  the  capitol,  for  three  weeks  before  the  session 
closed,  in  the  corridors,  in  committee  rooms,  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  working 
for  his  plan  to  increase  second-class  postage,  granting  concessions  here,  putting 
out  explanations  there,  assuring  certain  publishers  they  would  not  be  taxed, 
writing  letters  to  Senators  and  Representatives  showing  how  their  districts  or 
states  would  not  be  affected,  utilizing  every  resource  of  his  department,  of  his 
political  connections  as  former  chairman  of  the  Republican  National  Committee, 
to  get  support.  He  had  the  votes  in  the  Senate,  too,  if  he  could  have  brought 
the  matter  to  a  vote.  That  was  where  he  failed.  A  united  opposition  was 
organized,  an  opposition  composed  of  men  who  think  and  act  for  themselves 
and  who  were  prepared  to  fight  until  noon  on  March  4. 

When  Frank  H.  Hitchcock,  after  being  chairman  of  the  Republican  National 
Committee  in  the  campaign  of  1908,  was  made  Postmaster  General  as  a  reward  for 
his  political  services,  he  inherited,  in  his  department,  a  deficit,  an  antiquated, 
cumbersome  and  unbusinesslike  organization,  and  several  sets  of  figures.  Hitch- 
cock is  young  and  ambitious.  He  has  been  in  the  government  service,  in  various 
capacities,  most  of  his  life-  since  leaving  college.  He  was  anxious  to  make  a 
record.  As  Postmaster  General  he  was  political  paymaster  for  the  administration, 
to  a  great  degree,  as  there  -are  more  postmasters  than  any  one  other  kind  of  public 
officials,  and  postmasterships  are  perquisites  of  the  faithful  politicians  in  the 


38  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Senate  and  House  of  Representatives.  This  kept  Hitchcock  in  politics,  in  a  way, 
for  he  knew  what  the  obligations  of  the  administration  were,  having  made  most 
of  them  as  national  chairman,  and  he  paid  them  off  as  circumstances  permitted. 

He  thought,  too,  that  if  he  could  put  the  Postoffice  Department  on  a  self- 
sustaining  basis — where  it  had  not  been  for  years,  if  ever — he  would  do  a  great 
stroke  for  himself;  and  he  began  work  along  those  lines.  There  need  be  no  dis- 
cussion here  of  the  methods  by  which  he  made  apparent  reductions  in  the  expenses 
of  the  department.  Whether  by  bookkeeping  or  otherwise,  he  did  make  some 
apparent  reductions,  mostly  by  not  spending  appropriated  moneys,  by  reductions 
in  force,  by  elimination  of  substitute  carriers  and  by  other  similar  means. 

Mr.  Hitchcock,  it  would  seem,  was  a  peculiarly  active  public 
servant.  Mr.  Blythe  also  speaks  of  how  Mr.  Hitchcock  got  a  cue  from 
a  predecessor,  Charles  Emory  Smith.  Mr.  Smith  in  the  industrious 
activities  of  his  official  duties,  signing  of  reports  which  subordinates 
wrote,  vouchers  for  contracts  and  other  payments,  and  drawing  his 
salary — Mr.  Smith  had  laboriously  (?)  figured  it  out  that  the  second- 
class  mail  rate  ought  to  be  7  cents  a  pound.  Mr.  Hitchcock  goes 
Smith  two  cents  better.  This  statement  of  Mr  Smith's  grew  on  Mr. 
Hitchcock.  "It  opened  the  way  to  two  things,"  as  Mr.  Blythe  ably 
points  out  as  follows : — 

First  he  could  increase  the  revenue  of  the  department  if  he  could  increase  the 
second-class  rate ;  and  second,  he  could  get  a  whip  hand  over  the  magazine  press. 

He  reported  his  assumed  facts  to  the  President  in  time  for  Mr.  Taft's 
message  to  Congress,  sent  in  in  December,  1909.  In  that  message  Mr.  Taft  made 
the  statement  that  it  costs  the  government  9  cents  a  pound  to  transport  second- 
class  mail  matter,  the  total  cost  being  more  than  sixty  million  dollars  a  year,  and 
asked  that  there  should  be  an  increase  in  second-class  rates.  Mr.  Taft  instanced 
this  as  a  subsidy  for  the  magazine  and  periodical  press.  Mr.  Hitchcock's  report 
as  Postmaster  General  contained  substantially  the  same  statements. 

The  House  Committee  on  Postoffices  and  Postroads,  where  the  postoffice 
appropriation  bill  originates,  took  cognizance  of  these  statements  by  the  President 
and  by  the  Postmaster  General,  and  ordered  a  hearing  on  the  matter,  which  was 
held  early  in  the  session.  The  various  publishers  of  the  country,  representing  not 
only  the  Periodical  Publishers'  Association  but  many  other  organizations  of  pub- 
lishers of  various  classes  of  periodicals,  sent  representatives  to  Washington,  and 
there  were  full  hearings  before  the  committee,  extending  through  several  days. 
The  publishers  stated  their  side  of  the  case  and  the  committee  took  the  matter 
under  advisement.  The  House  committee  reported  out  the  postoffice  bill  with 
no  recommendation  of  any  kind  in  it  for  an  increase  in  second-class  postage ;  and 
no  separate  bill  providing  for  the  increase  was  prepared,  introduced  or  reported. 

Then  Mr.  Blythe,  under  the  subcaptioh  of  "Running  Down  the 
Nine-Cent  Myth,"  says: 

Some  years  previously  the  congress  authorized  what  was  known  as  the 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  39 

Penrose-Overstreet  Postal  Commission,  composed  of  members  of  the  postoffice 
committees  of  the  Senate  and  House,  of  which  Senator  Penrose  was  then  the 
Senate  chairman  and  the  late  Jesse  Overstreet  the  House  chairman.  This 
commission  met  in  various  places,  had  long  hearings  and  made  a  report  and  pre- 
pared a  bill.  Before  making  its  report  or  preparing  its  bill  the  commission  em- 
ployed, at  a  cost  of  seventy-five  thousand  dollars,  or  thereabouts,  chartered 
accountants  and  business  experts  to  make  a  thorough  examination  into  the  busi- 
ness methods  of  the  postoffice  department,  its  expenditures  and  its  resources. 
The  results  of  the  work  of  these  examiners  was  incorporated  in  the  report  to  Con- 
gress by  the  Penrose-Overstreet  commission.  It  is  notable  that  this  commission 
asked  the  late  Postmaster  General,  Charles  Emory  Smith,  of  Philadelphia,  who  was 
responsible  for  the  statement  that  it  cost  seven  cents  a  pound  to  transport  second-class 
mail  matter,  U'here  he  got  his  figures,  and  he  did  not  remember,  nor  -would  he  testify 
concerning  them. 

At  any  rate,  when  the  Penrose-Overstreet  bill,  providing  for  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  Postoffice  Department  and  the  placing  of  that  great  institution  on  a 
business  instead  of  a  political  basis,  was  introduced  in  the  Senate  and  the  House, 
it  contained  no  recommendation  for  the  increase  in  second-class  postage,  because 
the  commission  had  been  unable  to  find  any  figures  of  cost  of  second-class  trans- 
portation on  which  such  an  increase  could  justifiably  be  demanded,  even  after  expert 
examination  of  the  books  of  the  department  by  unprejudiced  men. 

Of  course,  I  may  be  mistaken — /  may  be.  But  how,  in  the  name 
of  Jehosaphat,  Pan  and  all  the  other  ghostly  deities  of  antiquity,  does 
"it  happen  that  men  like  Samuel  G.  Blythe  and  hundreds  of  others, 
— men  in  position  to  learn  and  know  the  facts,  likewise,  who  have 
both  the  ability  and  the  courage  to  tell  what  they  know — agree  with 
me  ?  Why,  1  ask,  if  I  am  mistaken  in  what  I  have  said  and  am  trying 
to  say,  do  so  many  other  men  who  have  studied  this  question,  all  of 
them  probably  of  greater  ability,  most  of  them  certainly  of  far  greater 
opportunity  than  have  I,  why,  I  inquire  again,  do  they  so  unanimously 
concur  in  the  judgment  I  am  trying  to  pass  on  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  his 
department? 

I  shall  probably  take  the  liberty,  later,  further  to  use  the  data 
given  in  Mr.  Blythe's  timely  and  informative  contribution,  quoting  or 
otherwise,  for  which  I  confidently  feel  he  will  excuse  me.  Just  here, 
however,  it  is  fitting  that  the  reader  be  given  a  reprint  of  that  night 
"rider"  to  which  I  have  made  so  frequent  reference. 

House  bill  No.  31,539  brought  the  postoffice  appropriation  bill  to 
the  Senate.  In  the  Senate  it  was  read  twice  and  then  on  February  9, 
1911,  it  was  referred  to  the  Senate  Committee  on  Postoffices  and  Post- 
roads  from  which  it  was  reported  back  by  Senator  Penrose,  Chairman 


40  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

of  the  Committee,  "with  amendments."  It  is  only  one  of  those  amend- 
ments  we   shall   here   care  to  consider.     That  one  appeared  on  page 
21  of  Senate  Bill  (Calendar  No.  1067),  and  the  "rider"  portion  begins 
at  line  7.     Following  is  the  "rider:" 
(Page  21.) 

7  "Pro- 

8  vided,     That  out  of  the  appropriation  for  inland  mail  trans- 

9  portation  the  Postmaster  General  is  authorized  hereafter  to 

10  pay  rental  if  necessary  in  Washington,  District  of  Columbia, 

11  and  compensation  to  tabulators  and  clerks  employed  in  con- 

12  nection  with  the  weighings  for  assistance  in  completing  com- 

13  putations,   in  connection  with  the  expenses  of  taking  the 

14  weights  of  mails  on  railroad  routes,   as  provided  by  law: 

15  And  provided  further,     That  during  the  fiscal  year  ending 

16  June  thirtieth,  nineteen  hundred  and  twelve,  the  rate  of  postage 

17  on  textual  and  general  reading  matter  contained  in  period- 

18  ical  publications  other  than  newspapers,  as  described  in  the 

19  Act   of  Congress  approved  March   third,   eighteen  hundred 

20  and  seventy-nine,  entitled  "An  Act  making  appropriations 

21  for  the  service  of  the    Postoffice  Department  for  the    fiscal 

22  year   ending  June   thirtieth,   eighteen   hundred   and  eighty, 

23  and  for  other  purposes,"  and  in   the  publications  described 

24  in   an  Act   of  Congress  approved  July   sixteenth,   eighteen 

25  hundred  and  ninety-four,  entitled  "An  Act  making  appro- 
(Page  22.) 

1  priations  for  the  service  of  the  Postoffice    Department    for 

2  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  thirtieth,  eighteen  hundred  and 

3  ninety-five,"  shall  be  one  cent  per  pound,  or  fraction  thereof; 

4  and  on  sheets  of  any  publication  of  either  of  said  classes  con- 

5  taining,     in    whole    or    part,  any    advertisement,    whether 

6  display,   descriptive,   or   textual,   four  cents  per  pound  or 

7  fraction  thereof;     Provided,  That  the  increased  rate  shall  not 

8  apply  to  publications  mailing  less  than  four  thousand  pounds 

9  of  each  issue." 

As  previously  stated,  and  pointed  out  by  Senator  Owen,  all 
amendments  of  character  with  the  above  are  clearly  in  violation  of 
Section  7,  Article  1  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Here  is 
the  wording  of  that  section : 

"All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  originate  in  the  House  of 
Representatives ;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  concur  with  amend- 
ments as  on  other  bills." 

That  is  plain  enough,  is  it  not,  as  to  the  Senate's  lack  of  right  or 
power  to  originate  revenue-producing  measures  either  by  bill  or 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  41 

amendment?  A  glance  at  lines  4  to  9  (page  22),  as  above  quoted,  will 
convince  even  a  stranger  in  a  strange  town  or  a  market  garden  delegate 
that  this  "rider"  amendment,  if  it  had  passed,  would  originate 
revenue. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  talked,  so  it  is  alleged,  that  it  would  produce 
$6,000,000  or  more,  thus  removing  that  "deficit"  he  has  had  in  his 
brain  or  on  his  mind.  Some  of  the  best  qualified  men  in  this  country 
have  shown,  and  they  have  used  Mr.  Hitchcock's  own  figures  in  doing 
so,  that  the  increased  mail  rate  as  this  "rider"  provided  would  not 
produce  over  $2,000,000  additional  revenue,  probably  not  over 
$1,000,000,  after  paying  for  the  added  clerical  and  inspection  service 
which  such  a  discriminating  classification  would  require. 

The  reader  will  note  (line  18  of  the  "rider"),  that  "newspapers" 
are  exempted  from  the  increased  tax.  The  reader  should  likewise 
note  that  under  both  this  "rider"  and  the  present  law,  newspapers  are 
carried  free  to  addresses  inside  the  county  of  publication,  save  to 
addressees  resident  of  towns  and  cities  having  carrier  delivery.  By 
this  is  meant  that  this  tricky  rider,  as  will  be  readily  seen,  leaves 
the  present  law — the  one-cent  a  pound  rate — in  force  and  applying  to 
all  "newspapers." 

Just  here  I  want  to  ask  the  thoughtful  reader  a  question  or  two, 
though  they  are  somewhat  tangential  to  the  direct  line  of  thought  we 
are  at  this  point  following: 

If  such  a  breach  of  constitutional  law,  of  the  legislative  rules 
governing  Congress  and  of  plain,  common  and  understood  justice  as 
was  covered  in  this,  I  believe,  studiedly  discriminating  "rider"  on  the 
postoffice  appropriation  bill — if  such  a  breach  was  permitted,  I  ask, 
how  long  would  it  be,  do  you  think,  before  our  newspapers  would  be 
made  victims  of  similar  restrictions  and  injustices? 

In  short,  how  long  do  you  think  it  would  take  the  gang  of 
conspirators  (the  "influenced"  and  the  "influencing"  factors  in  the 
personnel  of  the  conspiracy)  who  tried  to  "put  over"  that  rider,  to 
make .  any  nincompoop  of  a  politician  who  chances  to  be,  or  who 
may  become,  Postmaster  General  a  censor  of  all  periodical  literature, 
newspapers  as  well  as  magazines,  published  in  this  country? 

In  this  connection  another  thought  comes  which  I  desire  to  pass 
on  to  the  reader.  If  such  censorship  is  permitted,  such  discriminat- 
ing, abrogative  legislation  is  tolerated,  how  long  will  i\  be,  think  you, 


42  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

before  our  "banking  interests,"  our  "steel  interests,"  our  "packing 
interests,"  our  "hide  and  leather  interests,"  our  "rail  transportation 
interests"  go  into  the  periodical  business? 

Each  of  these  have  the  country  covered — yes,  flooded — with 
agents.  No  trouble  whatsoever  for  them  to  get  the  postal  department's 
required  "bona  fide"  subscription  list  and  thus  be  "entered"  at  the 
one-cent  second-class  rate. 

"Will  they  carry  advertising?"     Later,  yes. 

When  our  children  are  paying  the  cost  of  our  blunder  they  will  be 
advertising  each  other  and — at  the  one-cent  a  pound  rate. 

Think  it  over  and — well,  wake  up.  If  necessary,  get  cogently 
brisk  with  that  Senator  or  Congressman  of  yours.  At  least,  let  him 
know  that  you  are  on  the  job  as  well  as  he  and  that  you  understand 
the  job  as  well  as  he. 

Of  course,  the  "steerers"  and  "cappers"  for  this  press-muzzling 
and  official  censorship  game  will  tell  you  that  such  entrance  of  the 
"interests"  into  our  literary  field  is  "quite  impossible;"  that  "the 
postal  laws  prohibit  it;"  that  "it  would  be  a  foolish  waste  of  money 
on  their  part,"  and  a  score  or  more  of  other  equally  silly,  equally  false 
and  equally  "steered"  arguments. 

You  can  take  it  from  me  flat  that  the  man — any  man — who  hands 
you  that  sort  of  talk  is  either  hired  to  talk  it  or  he  is  mentally  unsound. 

The  "interests"  are  already  in  the  periodical  business.  They  own, 
or  control,  at  this  hour,  hundreds  of  newspapers,  magazines  and  other 
periodicals.  This  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  to  every  citizen 
who  reads  when  he  is  awake.  Not  only  that,  but  the  interests,  bank- 
ing, industrial,  transportation,  etc.,  have  gone  into  the  book  publish- 
ing business  (the  bound  book),  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  copies 
of  their  capping  (( literature"  have  been  distributed  to  the  people,  either 
free  or  at  a  price  far  below  cost  of  production. 

Not  only  that,  but  the  "interests"  are  annually  (now),  distribut- 
ing millions,  in  the  aggregate  hundreds  of  millions,  of  circular  letters 
and  circular  matter,  under  seal  and  open  circular-matter  sheets, 
pamphlets,  etc.,  first  and  third  class,  at  a  cost  of  eight  cents  a  pound 
or  more. 

So,  I  repeat,  the  man  who  attempts  to  controvert  my  previous 
statement  as  to  the  intent,  the  ulterior  motive,  of  the  conspirators 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  43 

backing  that  rider  to  the  1911  postoffice  appropriation  bill  is  either 
hired — bought — or  is  a  fool. 

It  is  one  of  his  easiest  "stunts"  for  any  writer  to  produce  a 
"promotion"  story  or  article.  For  instance :  The  "Packing  Interest," 
monthly  or  weekly,  can  print  three  or  four  "nice"  stories.  One,  say, 
about  "Lucy  and  Her  Window  Garden,"  another  about  "High  Light 
Pink,  the  Broncho  Buster,"  etc.,  etc.  Then  can  follow  a  "literary" 
write-up  of  how  "Jones  Rose  From  a  Wheelbarrow  Man  to  Foreman  in 
a  Steel  Mill,"  or  about  how  "Cruiser  Miller  Dropped  His  Blazing  Ax 
and  Became  Partner  in  a  Great  Lumber  Company,"  etc.,  etc.  After 
this  may  come  a  "Home  Department,"  and  then  a  few  local  or  "plant" 
news  items. 

In  the  first,  your  wife  and  mine  will  be  told  how  to  make  her 
currants  (not  her  currency)  jell;  how  to  make  children  "bread 
winners;"  how  to  "crochet  an  art  tidy,"  or  how  to  "Subsist  a  Family 
of  Five  on  Thirty-Nine  Cents  a  Day." 

In  the  "Local"  or  "Plant"  news  may  appear  some  explanation  of 
how  Crawloffski,  who  had  lost  a  leg  in  service,  is  "improving  in  the 
hospital  "(County),  and  "is  under  the  competent  care  of  the  com- 
pany's physician,"  of  the  promotion  of  "Mr.  James  Field,  formerly 
'run-way  driver,'  to  the  position  of  'hammer-man'  in  the  slaughter 
pen,  with  an  increase  of  $2.80  a  week  in  salary/' 

Of  course,  it  will  be  understood  that  I  am  not  giving  the  entire 
scope  and  plan  of  an  "Interest's"  periodical.  The  point  I  am  trying 
to  establish  is,  that  no  "Interest"  periodical  will,  for  a  time  at 
any  rate,  advertise  its  own  interests,  save  as  news  matter,  and  that  each 
"Interest"  can  and  will  advertise  the  others — the  mutual  interests — 
and  do  it,  too,  at  the  cent-a-pound  rate  and  without  violating  any 
postal  law  now  existent. 

I  will  now  return  to  Mr.  Hitchcock's  activity  and  arguments 
for  this  "rider"  to  that  postoffice  appropriation  bill.  I  call 
it  "his,"  as,  from  the  evidence,  I  am  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
originated  with  him.  Most  certainly  he  nursed  it  and  pushed  it 
forward  with  the  urgent  solicitude  which  a  fond  father  would  display 
in  advancing  his  first-born  or  favorite  scion.  The  excerpts  which  I 
have  taken  from  Mr.  Blythe  clearly  evidence  that  fact. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  is  on  record  as  stating  that  it  costs  "9.23  cents  a 
pound  to  transport  and  handle  second-class  mail  matter."  I  am 


44  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

quoting  from  memory.  Maybe  he  did  not  include  "handling,"  and 
put  9.23  cents  per  pound  as  the  cost  of  transportation  only.  At  all 
events  I  remember  that  one  writer,  with  keen  perception  and  a  robust 
sense  of  the  humor  of  things,  as  well  as  the  justice  involved,  pointed 
out  the  fact  that  any  of  the  competing  railroads  between  New  York 
city  and  Chicago  (easily  proven  to  be  twice  the  "average  mail  haul"), 
would  carry  Mr.  Taft,  our  300-pound  "good  fellow"  President,  the 
"run"  at  less  than  9  cents  a  pound.  Incidentally  the  writer  pointed 
out  these  facts:  President  Taft  would  have  a  sleeping  berth  or 
compartment,  a  porter  in  attendance,  smoking  room  accommodations, 
likewise  barber,  manicure,  buffet,  library  and  dining-room  services 
and  conveniences.  The  Chief  Executive  would  of  course  put  himself 
on  board  and  "discharge"  himself  at  the  terminal  station. 

'  How  about  300  pounds  of  second-class  mail  matter,  say  some 
monthly  New  York  periodical?  This  is  brought  to  the  mail  car, 
wrapped  and  directed  to  destination,  Chicago  for  instance,  to  keep  the 
comparison  clear  and  fair.  It  is  dumped  on  the  floor  in  a  corner  of  a 
mail  car,  with  all  the  intermediate  station  deliveries  atop  of  it  or 
stacked  about  it,  and  at  Chicago  it  is  tumbled  off  to  the  publisher's 
agent  or  salesman.  That  is  all  the  service  rendered  by  either  the  rail- 
roads or  the  Postoffice  Department  in  handling  that  300  pounds  of 
second-class  mail  matter. 

Yet  the  Postmaster  General  says  it  costs  the  government  9.23  cents 
a  pound  to  render  such  service! 

Is  not  that  rather  jarring  to  one's  exalted  opinion  of  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock's all-round,  comprehending  knowledge  of  a  just  and  fair  mail 
haulage  rate  ?  If  it  does  not  jar  the  reader  he  should  take  his  thinking 
apparatus  to  the  cobbler  and  have  it  half-soled. 

A  glance  at  freight  schedules  will  show  any  reader  that  live  stock, 
cattle,  hogs  or  sheep,  are  carried  from  Chicago  to  New  York,  Boston 
or  other  eastern  destination  at  only  a  small  fraction  of  his  dead-mail 
rate.  Again,  while  double-deck  live  stock  cars  are  in  extensive  use 
on  long  hauls,  the  stock  is  not  corded  up  on  the  decks  as  much  of  the 
second-class  mail  is  piled  up.  Not  only  that,  but  the  live  stock  must 
be  watered  and  fed  in  transit. 

The  rail  rates  for  the  carriage  of  dead-freight  makes  Mr. 
Hitchcock's  9.23  cents  a  pound,  which  he  figured  as  the  cost  to  the 
government  of  carriage  and  handling  second-class  mail,  read  so 


POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS.  45 

absurd  as  to  be  a  joke,  were  the  purpose  and  purport  of  his 
statement  not  so  grave  and  serious  as  they  are.  Even  the  4-cent 
rate  that  he  and  a  coterie  of  his  friends  tried  to  put  over  in  the 
Senate  rider — $80.00  a  ton  for  carrying  dead  weights  the  average  mail 
haul,  and  dumping  it  off  at  destination — is  a  ridiculous  charge. 

Why,  the  express  companies  are  carrying  hundreds  of  tons  daily 
of  dead-freight  over  such  average  haul  for  less  than  a  cent  a  pound ; 
yes,  they  are  carrying  tons  of  second-class  mail  matter  and  carrying  it 
at  one-half  a  cent  a  pound.  It  has  been  cited  by  Mr.  Hearst  and  other 
publishers  that  certain  railroads  carry  second-class  mail  matter  over 
fast  freight  runs  for  about  one-quarter  of  a  cent  a  pound.  In  this 
connection  another  thought  presents  itself:  Did,  or  did  not,  Mr. 
Hitchcock,  at  the  time  he  was  pushing  his  "rider"  in  the  Senate,  have 
any  adequate  knowledge  of  the  amount,  of  second-class  mail  matter 
which  publishers  were  then  sending  by  express  and  fast  freight?  If 
he  had  such  knowledge,  then  he  must  have  known  of  the  fact  that 
thousands  of  tons  of  periodicals  are  now  carried  by  the  railroads  and 
express  companies  at  a  rate  lower  than  the  government's  mail  charge 
of  one-cent  a  pound.  If  Mr.  Hitchcock  had  such  knowledge  when  he 
was  handing  his  string- talk  to  President  Taft,  having  his  "heart-to- 
hearts"  with  certain  senators,  I  wonder  if  he  intimated  to  them  what 
must  necessarily  happen  to  the  second  class  mail  division  and  to  that 
deficit  which,  apparently  at  least,  has  so  continuously,  likewise  so 
effusively  and  diffusively,  worried  him? 

If  the  fast  freights  and  express  are  now  taking  thousands  of  tons 
of  second-class  matter  from  the  government  in  competition  with  the 
one-cent  a  pound  rate,  how  many  thousands  of  tons  more  would  they 
take  from  the  government  if  the  latter  advanced  its  rate  to  four  cents 
a  pound  ?  And  what  effect  would  the  withdrawal  oi  so  vast  a  tonnage 
from  the  government's  second-class  service  have  upon  the  deficit  our 
solicitous  Postmaster  General  has  kept  himself  so  exercised  about — 
that  $6,000,000,  or,  to  be  exact,  using  Mr.  Hitchcock's  own  figures, 
$5,881,481.95?  That  deficit,  if  converted  into  cash,  would  barely 
furnish  parade  money  to  our  army  for  a  month.  If  the  Atlantic 
squadron  undertook  a  junket  with  such  financial  backing  its  progress 
would  probably  end  by  rounding  the  Statue  of  Liberty  at  the  entrance 
of  New  York  harbor.  If  Mr.  Hitchcock's  attempt  to  put  up  a  four- 
cent  rate  on  periodicals  had  succeeded,  thus  forcing  the  prominent 


46  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

publishers  to  find  cheaper  means  of  carriage  and  distribution,  his 
$6,000,000  would  have  soared  upward  to  a  point  making  it  worth  very 
serious  consideration. 

DEFICITS   AFFECTED    BY   SECOND-CLASS  TONNAGE. 

In  this  connection  I  desire  to  show  that  deficits  in  the  federal 
postal  service  are  largely  governed  by  the  tonnage  of  second-class 
matter  carried,  the  greater  such  tonnage  the  smaller  the  deficit.  To 
do  this  I  shall  take  the  liberty  to  quote  from  the  "Inland  Printer," 
probably  the  most  widely  read  periodical  among  the  printing  crafts, 
as  it  certainly  is  one  of  the  best  informed  and  most  carefully  edited 
journals  of  any  in  matters  relating  to  the  publication  and  distribution 
of  periodical  literature.  The  article  speaks  of  several  points  pertinent 
to  our  subject  and  is  so  instructively  written  that  I  know  my  readers 
will  appreciate  it  in  its  entirety.  If  the  publishers  of  the  periodical 
will  pardon  my  wholesale  appropriation  of  their  article,  I  am  confident 
my  readers  will  do  the  same.  The  article  is  of  date  March,  1911,  and 
was  written  by  Wilmer  Atkinson,  whose  permission  I  should  also  ask 
for  reprinting  it  in  to  to: 

In  1860  the  postal  deficit  was  $10,652,543;  in  1910  it  was  $5,848,566.  The 
postage  rate  was  four  times  greater  in  1860  than  now. 

Coming  down  twelve  years  to  1872  the  total  weight  of  second-class  matter 
was  that  year  less  than  65,000,000  pounds. 

Now  it  is  817,428,141  pounds,  more  than  twelve  times  greater. 

Then  the  postage  rate  was  four  times  what  it  is  now. 

Then  the  gross  revenue  was  $21,915,426;  now  it  is  $224,128,657,  more  than 
ten  times  as  much. 

Then  there  was  no  rural  free  delivery ;  now  that  system  costs  $36,923,737. 

Then  there  were  no  registered  letters;  now  there  are  42,053,574  a  year. 

Then  there  were  issued  $48,515,532  of  domestic  money  orders;  now  there 
are  issued  $547,993,641. 

Then  postmasters  were  paid  $5,121,665;  now  they  are  paid  $27,514,362,  and 
their  clerks  are  paid  $38,035,456.62. 

Then  city  delivery  cost  but  little  ;  now  it  costs  $31,805,485.28. 

In  1872  there  were  issued  of  stamps,  stamped  envelopes  and  wrappers  less 
than  $18,000,000  (there  were  no  postal  cards) ;  now  are  issued,  including  postal 
cards,  $202,064,887.96,  more  than  ten  times  as  much. 

Observe  that  the  weight  of  second-class  matter  is  752,428,141  pounds 
greater  than  in  1872,  costing  therefore  (according  to  some  official  mathemati- 
cians), more  than  9  cents  a  pound  for  transportation,  or  a  total  of  $67,718,532.69. 
The  deficit  for  1910  is  almost  identical  with  that  of  1872. 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  47 

1885=1910 

As  late  as  1885  the  government  income  from  the  issue  of  stamps,  stamped 
envelopes  and  wrappers  and  postal  cards  was  $35,924,137.70. 

In  1910  it  was  $202,064,887.96,  more  than  five  times  as  much. 

The  number  of  registered  letters  issued  in  1885  was  11,043,256;  in  1910  it 
was  40,151,797. 

The  amount  of  money  orders  issued  rose  from  $117,858,921  in  1885  to  $498,- 
699,637  in  1910. 

The  total  postal  receipts  rose  from  $42,560,844  in  1885  to  $224,128,657  in 
1910,  an  increase  of  $181,567,813. 

The  postage  rate  on  second-class  matter  in  1885  was  double  what  it  is  now. 

During  the  intervening  period  the  weight  of  second-class  matter  had  in- 
creased about  600,000,000  pounds. 

Now  we  will  get  down  a  little  closer  in  this  business  and  see  what  has 
happened  within  the  last  five  years. 

1906=1911 

In  1906  there  was  a  gain  in  weiglu  of  second-class  matter  of  41,674,086 
pounds;  in  that  year  the  deficit  was  $10,516,999. 

In  1907  there  was  a  gain  in  weight  of  52,616,336  pounds— 11,000,000  pounds 
more  than  in  1906 ;  the  deficit  was  reduced  to  $6,653,283. 

In  1908  there  was  a  loss  instead  of  gain  in  weight  of  second-class  matter  of 
18,079,292  pounds;  the  deficit  went  up  to  $16,873,223,  an  increase  over  the  year 
before  of  more  than  $10,000,000. 

In  1909  there  was  only  a  slight  gain  in  weight  of  28,367,298  pounds;  the 
deficit  went  up  to  $17,441,719. 

In  1910  there  was  a  gain  in  weight  of  94,865,884  pounds,  the  largest  ever 
known;  and  the  deficit  dropped  to  $5,848,566.88. 

From  1906  to  1910  there  were  198,863,387  pounds  increase  in  the  weight 
of  second-class  matter;  the  deficit  was  $4,668,432.12  less  in  1910  than  in  1906. 

The  impression  is  prevalent  that  the  amount  paid  for  railway  transportation 
was  cut  down  the  past  year,  but  the  truth  is  that  the  railroads  were  paid  $44,- 
654,514.97,  the  railway  mail  service  and  the  postoffice  car  service  cost  $24,065-, 
218.88,  a  total  of  $68,719,733.85,  which  is  more  by  a  half  million  than  was  paid  in 
\909,  and  over  $7,000,000  more  than  was  paid  in  1906. 

It  is  claimed  that  there  is  no  definite  relation  between  deficits  and  second- 
class  matter ;  very  well,  the  foregoing  are  the  official  figures ;  let  them  speak  for 
themselves. 

In  the  whole  history  of  the  Postoffice  Department,  neither  an  increase  of 
second-class  matter  nor  a  reduction  of  the  postage  rate  has  ever  increased  deficits, 
no  matter  what  burdens  have  been  piled  upon  the  service  in  the  way  of  an  ex- 
tension of  city  delivery,  the  establishment  of  rural  free  delivery,  the  multiplica- 
tion in  number  and  increase  of  pay  of  officials,  increase  of  government  free  matter, 
increase  of  railroad  and  other  transportation  charges,  nor  an  increase  in  the  ob- 
structive energies  of  postal  officials  directed  against  the  publishing  business. 
(See  In  Memoriam,  page  49.) 


48  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

It  has  come  to  be  generally  understood  and  conceded  that  second-class 
matter  originates  mail  of  the  other  classes.  The  Postal  Commission  testifies  that 
"No  sane  man  will  deny  that  second-class  matter  is  the  immediate  cause  of  great 
quantities  of  first-class  matter."  Mr.  Madden  and  Mr.  Lawshe  said  the  same 
thing.  Meyer  said  that  "It  is  known  that  second-class  matter  is  instrumental  in 
originating  a  large  amount  of  other  classes  of  mail  matter."  To  what  extent 
this  is  so  can  not  be  determined  with  exactitude,  but  the  official  figures  given 
throw  a  flood  of  light  on  the  subject. 

There  are  four  classes  of  (paid)  mail  matter — first,  second,  third  and  fourth. 
The  first  comprises  letters  and  postals,  the  second  newspapers  and  periodicals,  the 
third  circulars,  and  the  fourth  merchandise. 

How,  of  themselves,  could  the  first,  third  and  fourth  classes  develop  faster 
than  the  growth  of  population?  Does  not  their  extension  depend  upon  the  busi- 
ness energy  and  the  intellectual  activity  of  the  people,  and  in  turn  do  not  these 
depend  very  largely  upon  the  circulation  of  the  public  press? 

Will  it,  therefore,  be  deemed  unreasonable  to  conclude  that  of  the  $202,- 
064,887.96  of  stamps  sold  for  the  first,  third  and  fourth  classes  of  mail  matter 
last  year,  $150,000,000  of  it  originated  immediately,  remotely  and  cumulatively 
from  the  second  class?  How  else  than  in  some  such  way  can  we  account  for  the 
prodigious  development  of  the  postal  business,  which  has  outrun  population 
sixfold  or  more? 

The  late  Senator  Dolliver,  at  the  American  Periodical  Association's  banquet, 
at  the  New  Willard  hotel,  at  Washington,  a  year  ago,  said:  "I  look  upon  every 
one  of  your  little  advertisements  as  a  traveling  salesman  for  the  industries  of  the 
United  States." 

The  amazing  development  of  the  industries  of  the  country  is  in  a  large 
measure  due  to  second-class  matter ;  the  great  increase  of  second-class  matter  is 
due  to  the  low  postage  rate ;  and  the  wonderful  expansion  of  the  postal  establish- 
ment is  based  chiefly  upon  the  widespread  distribution  of  newspapers  and  period- 
icals. 

The  foregoing  figures  are  respectfully  submitted ;  they  are  official ;  and  their 
significance  can  be  interpreted  by  any  intelligent  and  thoughtful  person.  In  the 
presence  of  these  figures,  is  it  too  much  to  claim  that  the  government  has  never 
lost  a  dollar  in  transporting  second-class  mail,  that  it  is  by  far  the  most  profitable 
of  any,  and  that,  were  it  withdrawn  or  greatly  curtailed  by  an  increase  of  rate, 
the  postal  establishment  would  collapse  into  bankruptcy? 

In  view,  also,  of  the  foregoing  figures  it  is  hoped  that  the  government  will 
assume  a  less  antagonistic  attitude  toward  the  publishing  business,  and  en- 
courage and  promote  the  circulation  of  the  public  press  rather  than  repress  and 
curtail  it.  Its  obstructive  course  has  been  pursued  too  long,  having  no  basis  in 
justice,  business  foresight,  or  common  sense. 

Let  there  be  a  realization  and  an  awakening! 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  49 

IN    MEMORIAM. 

During  the  last  fiscal  postal  year  the  death  list  of  publications 
footed  up  to  4,229  Of  these,  504  died  a-bornin,  that  is,  were  denied 
entry;  the  others — 3,725 — were  papers  that  had  been  established. 

In  the  decade  from  1901  to  1910,  inclusive,  11,563  publications 
were  strangled  at  birth  (denied  entry),  and  of  established  papers  that 
died  there  were  32,060 

How  many  of  these  were  forced  to  give  up  the  struggle  for  exist- 
ence on  account  of  the  hard  conditions  imposed  by  the  government,  we 
have  no  means  of  knowing  It  is  not  found  in  the  annual  reports.  It  is 
beyond  question  that  with  sample  copies  cut  off  and  necessary  credit  for 
subscriptions  forbidden,  no  publishers  without  large  cash  capital  to  draw 
from  can  start  and  keep  going  in  competition  with  old  established  papers. 

Why  at  this  time,  when  the  people  are  trying  to  get  rid  of  monopoly, 
the  government  should  thus  build  one  up,  is  hard  to  comprehend. 

We  are  informed  that  the  rule  in  regard  to  expired  subscriptions 
"has  met  with  strong  approval  and  continues  to  grow  in  favor  with 
publishers  and  the  public  generally  "  This  statement  is  made  by  the  new- 
ly installed  Third  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  but  it  is  a  delusion  which 
Mr.  Britt  has  unfortunately  inherited  from  his  predecessor.  It  may 
be  true  as  to  those  benefited  by  the  monopoly,  but  not  as  to  those 
who  have  been  put  down  and  out.  "Dead  men  tell  no  tales." 

I  had  intended  to  omit  that  "In  Memoriam."  Then  I  carefully 
read  it  over.  The  appalling  slaughter  of  the  "innocents"  which  it 
exposes  was  so  new  to  me,  news  of  such  a  tragic  nature  in  the  domain 
of  periodical  publishing,  that  I  then  and  there  changed  my  mind. 
I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  news  conveyed  in  its  five  brief  paragraphs 
will  be  as  new  and  as  surprising  to  most  of  my  readers  as  it  was  to  me. 
Think  of  42,623  publications  put  out  of  business  in  ten  years?  Of  4,229 
sent  to  the  commercial — in  most  instances,  probably,  to  the  financial 
— junk  pile  in  one  year — last  year  ?  Then  think  of  the  causes  this  con- 
scientious writer  holds  chargeable  for  a  large  share  of  the  slaughter ! 

ATTEMPT    TO   BREACH  THE   CONSTITUTION. 

We  will  now  revert  to  the  bold  attempt  made  in  presenting  that 
rider  amendment  to  the  postoffice  appropriation  bill  to  breach  the  fed- 
eral constitution,  following  which  we  will  take  up  some  of  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock's efforts  to  show  how  much  or  how  little  he  knows  about  the 
business  of  publishing  and  distributing  magazines  and  other  periodi- 
cal literature. 

First  let  us  inquire  if  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  the  coterie  backing  that 
Senate  "rider"  knew  that,  under  the  Constitution,  all  measures  for 


50  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

raising  federal  revenue  must  originate  in  the  Lower  House  of  Congress? 
One  scarcely  dares  conclude  they  were  so  densely  ignorant  as  that. 
Then,  was  theirs  a  deliberate,  calculated  attempt  to  breach  the  consti- 
tutional prerogatives  and  rights  of  the  Lower  House  ?  Did  they  figure 
upon  putting  through  that  vicious  rider  in  the  congested  closing  hours 
of  Congress?  I  call  them  the  crooked  hours  of  Congress.  Did  those 
backers  of  that  rider  hope  that  Senators  and  Congressmen  would 
overlook  or  fail  to  read  that  rider,  hope  that  so  many  would  be  so  fully 
occupied  by  the  swan- song  chorus  being  sung  during  those  closing 
hours  that  they  would  not  notice  that  "rider"  jumping  the  constitu- 
tional hurdles? 

Now,  if  either  one  of  the  last  assigned  reasons  is  valid,  a  word 
stronger  than  "ignorance"  should  apply  to  such  tricky,  treacherous 
action,  whether  it  is  practiced  by  Senators,  Congressmen,  cabinet 
chiefs  or  chiefs  higher  up.  One  greatly  dislikes  to  apply  a  fitting 
term  to  such  ulterior  motives  as  lead  high  and  respected  public 
officials  to  breach  the  constitution  by  trickery  about  on  a  level  with 
that  of  the  sneak  thief  or  with  that  of  a  "con"  man  who  thinks  he  has 
done  his  full  duty  by  the  people  when  he  has  sold  Reuben  the  painted 
brick.  But  how  could  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  those  Senators  co-operat- 
ing with  him  be  ignorant  of  the  plain  letter  of  the  law  and  supported 
by  a  long  line  of  precedents  in  both  the  Senate  and  the  House  ? 

As  to  the  Senate  precedents  for  the  House's  right  to  originate  all 
measures  for  the  raising  of  revenues,  Mr.  Henry  H.  Gilfry,  Chief  Clerk 
of  the  Senate,  compiled  in  1871  a  work  entitled  "Decisions  on  Points 
of  Order  with  Phraseology  in  the  United  States  Senate."  Mr. 
Gilfry  cites  the  attempt  of  the  Senate  to  repeal  the  income  tax.  The 
House  returned  the  bill  to  the  Senate  with  a  reminder  that  the 
Constitution  "vests  in  the  House  of  Representatives  the  sole  power 
to  originate  such  measures.  Mr.  Gilfry  cites  many  other  precedents. 

In  1905  the  Senate  tried  to  originate  revenues  by  amendment  to 
the  postoffice  appropriation  bill.  That  amendment  was  very 
similar  to  the  "rider"  of  Mr.  Hitchcock.  I  will  here  reprint  it: 

"That  hereafter  the  rate  of  postage  on  packages  of  books  or 
merchandise  mailed  at  the  distributing  postoffice  of  any  rural  free 
delivery  to  a  patron  on  said  route  shall  be  three  cents  for  each 
pound  or  any  fraction  thereof.  This  rate  shall  apply  only  to  packages 
deposited  at  the  local  postoffice  for  delivery  to  patrons  on  routes 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  51 

emanating  from  that  office,  or  collected  by  rural  carriers  for  delivery 
to  the  office  from  which  the  route  emanates,  and  not  to  mail  trans- 
mitted from  one  office  to  another,  and  shall  not  apply  to  packages 
exceeding  5  pounds  in  weight." 

The  House  brought  that  measure  to  conference  and  flatly  re- 
fused to  recognize  the  power  of  the  Senate  in  the  premises.  The  Senate 
receded  and  the  amendment  was  killed. 

"Hinds'  Precedents  of  the  House  of  Representatives"  is  a  recog- 
nized authority.  In  Chapter  XLII ,  Vol.  2,  under  the  caption, 
"Prerogatives  of  the  House  as  to  Revenue  Legislation,"  Mr.  Hinds 
cites  many  instances  in  which  the  House  had  invariably  insisted  upon 
the  exclusive  exercise  of  its  rights  as  defined  in  Section  7,  Article  1,  of 
the  Constitution. 

Mr.  Hinds  cites  in  all  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  precedents, 
each  of  which  raises  the  same  point  of  order  as  was  raised  in  debating 
Mr.  Hitchcock's  late  "rider"  and  on  each  of  which  the  House  main- 
tained its  right  to  originate  all  bills  for  raising  revenues. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  some  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's  supporters  were 
men  of  experience,  skilled  parliamentarians,  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
some  of  them  were  trained  lawyers,  and  in  view  of  the  further  fact 
that  the  works  both  of  Mr.  Hinds  and  of  Mr.  Gilf ry  are  on  file  in  the 
reference  libraries  of  the  Senate  and  House  and  probably  in  most  of 
the  departments,  how,  I  ask,  in  view  of  the  above  facts,  can  either  Mr. 
Hitchcock  or  any  of  his  supporters  enter  a  valid  plea  of  ignorance 
of  the  fact  that  their  attempt  to  put  over  that  rider  was  controvening 
the  constitutional  rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  House? 

No,  they  were  not  ignorant.  In  my  judgment,  as  based  upon  the 
reports  which  have  reached  me,  that  "rider"  was  a  deliberate  frame- 
up  and  its  architects  were  a  few  conspirators  who  sought  by  means 
of  that  rider  either  to  put  certain  periodicals  out  of  business  or  force 
them  to  print  what  they  were  told  to  publish. 

Possibly  I  may  be  in  error  as  to  this,  but  the  careful  observation 
of  the  best  informed  and  most  experienced  correspondents  on  the 
Washington  assignment,  as  well  as  a  number  of  Senators  and  Congress- 
men, have,  in  reports  made,  supplied  ample  evidence  to  warrant  my 
statement  to  the  effect  that  there  was  a  collusive  understanding 
among  a  few  people  to  present  that  "rider"  in  the  closing  hours  of 
the  session  with  the  hope  that  in  the  rush  of  affairs  it  might  escape 


52  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

notice  and  go  through.  And  that  hope  was  born  of  an  ulterior  pur- 
pose to  get  even  with  some  monthly  and  weekly  publications — publi- 
cations of  independent  thought  and  voice  and  which  have  for  several 
years  been  telling  the  truth  about  certain  Senators  and  Congressmen. 
These  independent  periodicals  have  also  been  telling  a  rapidly  grow- 
ing multitude  of  eager  readers  the  cold,  unvarnished  facts  about  some 
corporations  and  corporate  interests  which,  it  is  generally  believed 
and  openly  charged,  are  represented  in  federal  legislation  and  in  cabi- 
net and  other  official  circles  in  Washington  by  several  of  the  very 
men  who  were  so  actively  supporting  Mr.  Hitchcock  in  pushing  his 
"nder"  over  the  legislative  course. 

A  brief  summary  of  the  history  of  that  rider  may  be  presented  at 
this  point.  The  Penrose-Overstreet  bill  was  before  the  House  in  the 
early  part  of  1910.  It  carried  no  recommendation  of  an  increased 
rate  on  second-class  matter.  This  Penrose-Overstreet  bill  was, 
however,  reintroduced  in  the  House  by  Congressman  Weeks,  of 
Massachusetts,  Chairman  of  the  House  Postoffice  Committee,  and  by 
Senator  Carter  in  the  Senate.  The  House  refused  either  to  approve 
or  take  action  on  Mr.  Hitchcock's  recommendation.  After  consider- 
ation, the  Senate  approved  the  House  bill.  That  bill  carried  no 
recommendation  for  an  increase  in  second-class  postage  rates.  Not 
a  single  member  of  the  Senate  during  the  debate  suggested  nor 
introduced  any  bill  or  amendment  recommending  such  increase. 

In  his  message  of  December,  1910,  President  Taft  recommended 
an  increase  in  the  second-class  mail  rates.  His  recommendation  was 
couched  in  language  very  similar  to  that  used  in  his  message  of 
December,  1909. 

Mr.  Samuel  Blythe,  from  whom  I  have  previously  quoted  ex- 
tendedly,  says  some  pertinent  things  in  commenting  on  the  situation 
at  this  point  in  our  brief  outline  of  how  this  "rider"  got  mounted  for 
a  lap  or  two  and  then  was  blanketed  in  the  home-stretch: 

"The  Postmaster  General  had  not  been  idle  in  the  matter.  He 
had  it  on  his  mind.  Moreover,  his  party  had  been  defeated  at  the 
polls  in  the  previous  November  and  about  the  only  Republicans  who 
were  successful  were  Progressive  Republicans  against  whom  the 
President  had  admitted,  in  his  famous  Norton-Iowa  letter,  he  had 
been  discriminating  and  for  whom  Mr.  Hitchcock  had  no  sympathy. 
The  policies,  and  in  many  cases  the  individuals,  in  the  progressive 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  53 

movement  had  had  large  support  from  the  magazines  and  periodicals ; 
and  before  that,  the  reactionaries  who  had  ultimately  been  defeated, 
had  been  assailed  because  of  their  misdeeds." 

There  is  a  lot  of  bone  and  sinew  in  that.  Of  course,  both  the 
President  and  his  Postmaster  General  wanted  to  make  good ;  wanted, 
as  I  have  previously  intimated,  to  get  rid  of  those  pestiferous  inde- 
pendent periodicals  which  had  been  so  conspicuous  and  powerful  in 
unhorsing  some  of  their  stand-pat  friends  in  the  elections  of  Novem- 
ber. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  is  not  one  of  the  sort  of  men  who  rush  in 
where  angels  fear  to  tread.  He  is  quite  a  general.  He  can  make  the 
waiting  tactics  of  General  McClellan,  it  would  seem,  apply  beautifully 
to  a  political  maneuver.  He  can  wait  and  bide  his  time.  At  any 
rate,  he  waited.  He  waited  until  the  President  and  other  friends  had 
worked  that  announced  method  of  "discriminating"  against  the 
progressives,  the  so-called  "insurgents,"  to  the  end  of  appointing  a 
Senate  Committee  on  Postoffices  and  Postroads,  the  personnel  of 
which  suited  Mr.  Hitchcock's  quietly  nursed  purpose — in  fact  suited 
him  as  well  as  if  he  had  selected  the  committee  himself.  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock, however,  still  waited,  and  while  he  waited,  the  House  Com- 
mittee had  been  appointed  and  was  engaged  in  considering  the 
postoffice  appropriation  bill.  This  House  Committee  held  numerous 
sessions  and  gave  hearings  to  many  newspapermen  and  to  publishers 
of  periodicals.  It  went  over  the  entire  field  of  requirement  in  the 
government  postal  services  and  appears  to  have  gone  into  the  subject 
of  second-class  mail  rates  and  the  cost  of  its  transportation  and  hand- 
ling most  carefully  and  thoroughly.  The  result  of  its  deliberations  was 
to  tender  to  the  House  a  bill  carrying,  as  previously  stated,  an 
appropriation  of  some  $258,000,000  for  the  year's  salaries,  main- 
tenance and  operation  of  the  Postoffice  Department,  a  sum  which 
must  certainly  appear  liberal  to  any  informed  reader. 

In  this  connection,  two  points  stand  out  in  bold  relief.  First : — 
When  the  House  bill  covering  the  1911  appropriations  for  the  Post- 
office  Department  was  passed  and  advanced  to  the  Senate,  it  carried 
no  pro-vision  or  recommendation  for  an  increase  of  the  second-class 
postage  rates. 

Second : — As  previously  stated  the  House  committee  held  many 
sessions  while  considering  and  preparing  its  1911  Postoffice  Depart- 


54  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

ment  appropriation  bill,  and  at  no  session  of  that  committee  did  Mr. 
Hitchcock  urge  an  increase  in  the  second-class  postage  rates.  He  made 
no  propositions  or  recommendations  to  that  committee  touching  on 
increases  in  the  second-class  mail  rate. 

In  fact  he  made  no  proposition  of  any  sort  to  that  committee.  Nor 
did  he  submit  any  statements  or  figures  to  that  committee,  other  than 
those  contained  in  his  1910  report  and  in  the  President's  message. 

Rather  a  queer  procedure  that,  is  it  not  ?  Especially  is  it  queer, 
likewise  suggestive,  in  a  man  who,  for  two  years,  had  been  running 
with  anti-skidding  tires  on  and  the  high-speed  lever  pushed  clear 
down,  in  a  wild  chase  to  capture  an  increase  in  the  second-class  mail 
rate. 

That  is  the  way  it  looks  to  The  Man  on  the  Ladder,  anyway. 

Why  did  Mr.  Hitchcock  so  completely  ignore  that  House  com- 
mittee? Or  why,  at  most,  did  his  attitude,  when  present  at  any  of  its 
sessions,  manifest  so  little  interest  as  almost  to  indicate  an  indifference 
as  to  what  was  done  or  not  done?  Why,  again,  was  Mr.  Hitchcock 
so  inactive,  so  void  of  suggestions  and  recommendations  when  before 
that  branch  of  federal  legislative  authority  with  which  he  knew  must 
originate  all  measures  for  the  raising  of  revenues? 

Why?  To  that  question  there  appears,  to  The  Man  on  the  Ladder, 
but  one  valid  answer.  Mr.  Hitchcock  was  waiting. 

When  the  House  bill  was  sent  to  the  Senate  and  referred  to  the 
Senate  Committee  on  Postoffices  and  Postroads,  it  appears  from 
reports  of  people  whose  business  it  is  to  watch  things  done  and  doing 
at  Washington,D.  C.,  that  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  livened  up 
a  bit,  being  careful,  however,  not  to  put  any  noticeable  pressure  on 
his  high-speed  lever  until  those  meddlesome  publishers  had  left  town 
and  were  well  away. 

These  publishers,  knowing  the  constitutional  prerogatives  of  the 
Lower  House,  considered  matters  safe  and  settled  when  the  House 
bill  making  appropriations  for  the  Postoffice  Department  was  adopted 
and  advanced  to  the  Senate.  They  knew  it  carried  no  section  advanc- 
ing second-class  postage  rates  nor  any  recommendations  favoring 
such  advance.  With  the  publishers  that  ended  it.  But  they  failed 
to  consider  Mr.  Hitchcock.  His  wiles  and  ways  were,  it  appears, 
neither  understood  nor  even  suspicioned  by  those  publishers.  So, 
confident  and  content,  they  gathered  up  their  belongings,  packed 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  55 

their  grips,  paid  their  hotel  bills  and  hied  away  to  their  several 
homes.  Then  it  was  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  got  busy  with  that 
discriminatingly  selected  committee  of  the  Senate — the  Committee  on 
Postoffices  and  Postroads. 

To  see  how  "discriminating"  some  one  or  more  persons  had  been 
in  selecting  that  committee,  let  us  look  over  its  membership.  At 
its  head,  as  Chairman,  sat  Boies  Penrose.  He  is  the  reputed  Republi- 
can boss  of  Pennsylvania  and  an  ' 'organization"  man.  So  is  President 
Taft  an  organization  man.  Therefore  Senator  Penrose  is  an  Ad- 
ministration man  to  the  last  ditch — that  is,  of  course,  if  the  ad- 
ministration is  Republican.  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  also  an  organization 
man.  and  if  both  the  President  and  his  Postmaster  General  wanted 
this  "rider"  turned  loose  on  the  senate  tanbark,  Mr.  Penrose  was 
willing  to  go  along  with  them.  The  other  members  of  the  commit- 
tee were: — 

Republicans : — 

Scott,  of  West  Virginia. 

Burrows,  of  Michigan. 

Dick,  of  Ohio. 

Crane,  of  Massachusetts. 

Guggenheim,  of  Colorado. 
Democrats : — 

Taliaferro,  of  Florida. 

Bankhead,  of  Alabama. 

Taylor,  of  Tennessee. 

Terrell,  of  Georgia. 

We  will  scrutinize  that  list  and  see  how  the  members  fared  at 
the  November  election.  The  first  four  Republicans  and  the  first  Demo- 
crat as  named  in  the  list  were  defeated  at  the  last  senatorial  selection — 
in  fact  they  were  repudiated  by  the  states  they  had  been  representing 
or  misrepresenting,  as  the  reader  cares  to  take  it.  As  these  defeated 
toga-smudgers  attributed  their  overthrow  largely  to  newspaper  and 
other  periodical  attacks  upon  them,  Mr.  Hitchcock  naturally  found 
them  in  line  for  anything  he  wanted  to  visit  upon  those  offensive 
publications. 

Of  the  other  Republicans,  Crane,  is  reputed  to  be  lugging  around 
with  him  a  large-sized  aspiration  to  be  Republican  leader  in  the 
Senate.  If  he  cashes  that  ambition,  he  must  necessarily  stand  pat 


56  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

with  the  President  and  Hitchcock,  in  spite  of  the  alleged  fact  that 
Senator  Crane  does  not  carry  an  over-load  of  esteem  for  said  Hitch- 
cock. The  other  left-over  Republican  member  of  the  committee, 
Guggenheim,  would  not  be  worth  mentioning  were  it  not  for  the  fact 
that  the  methods  pursued  by  himself  and  his  friends  in  his  elevation 
to  senatorial  honors  have  put  him  in  the  class  almost  removed  from 
criticism.  Those  methods  received  much  caustic  consideration  from 
newspapers  and  other  periodicals.  Simon  Guggenheim,  though 
reputed  to  be  noticeably  obtuse  in  comprehension  and  decidedly 
pachydermatous  of  integument,  is  probably  neither  so  dull  nor  so 
thick  of  skin  as  not  to  have  felt  and  to  have  remembered  the  exposure 
the  magazines  made  of  the  methods  they  asserted  were  used  to  secure 
his  toga;  methods,  it  was  asserted,  which  virtually  bought  his 
"friends,"  both  those  in  and  those  out  of  Colorado's  legislature. 
Yes,  Simon  probably  remembers  those  exposures  and  the  .sources 
from  which  they  emanated. 

Entirely  aside  from  that  fact,  Simon  Guggenheim  is  a  dyed-in- 
the-wool  Administration  man.  In  fact,  if  reports  be  true,  and  his 
record  in  the  Senate  appears  to  justify  the  reports,  Senator  Guggen- 
heim could  not  be  other  than  an  Administration  man.  First,  it  is 
said,  there  are  "official"  motives  and  reasons  for  his  being  such,  and, 
second,  that  his  intellectual  equipment  is  so  out  of  repair,  or  so  lacking 
in  native  operating  power,  as  virtually  to  disqualify  him  for  any  part 
or  position  save  that  of  a  nonentity  in  legislative  procedure  and 
affairs. 

So  Senator  Simon  "Gugg"  must  necessarily  stand  with  the 
President  and  the  Postmaster  General  on  the  "rider"  amendment  as 
on  any  other  proposition  they  wanted  to  forward. 

As  to  the  hold-over  or  returned  Democratic  members  of  that 
committee  little  needs  be  said  as  the  Democrats  were  in  the  minority 
anyway.  Senator  Bankhead  is  quite  generally  recognized  as  a  con- 
genial, obliging  and  accommodating  politician.  In  all  probability, 
he  would  not  enter  any  strenuous  objections  to  Mr.  Hitchcock's 
proposed  amendment,  provided  a  hint  was  given  him  that  the  Presi- 
dent approved  it.  That  such  hint  was  handed  around  quite  freely 
before  the  committee's  report  was  submitted  to  the  Senate  is  a  matter 
of  common  knowledge. 

Senator  Taylor  first  voted  for  the  rider  amendment.     Later, 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  57 

however,  when  he  neared  Jericho,  the  scales  appear  to  have  fallen 
from  his  eyes  and  he  then  saw  things  differently.  At  any  rate  he 
later  voted  against  the  amendment. 

Senator  Terrell  of  Georgia  was  ill,  and  therefore  not  present  when 
action  was  had.  It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  the  Postmaster  General 
had  his  "discriminating"  committee. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  began  his  advance  on  that  committee  February 
1st.  He  approached  certain  of  its  members  on  the  1st  and  2nd  and 
informed  them,  in  effect,  that  he  wanted  them  to  urge  a  second-class 
amendment  to  the  postoffice  appropriation  bill,  which  the  committee 
had  under  consideration.  He,  it  is  reported,  also  assured  these 
senators  that  President  Taft  most  earnestly  desired  that  an  increase 
be  made  in  second-class  rates.  He  got  a  committee  appointed,  con- 
sisting of  Senators  Carter,  Crane  and  others  to  confer  with  the  President 
regarding  the  matter.  Owing,  however,  to  the  pending  of  other 
legislation  in  the  Senate  (the  ship  subsidy  bill  in  particular),  the 
matter  dragged  along  until  the  8th  of  February.  During  the  delay, 
Hitchcock  made  sure  of  the  committee  by  nailing  down  Penrose, 
Crane,  Burrows,  Carter,  Scott,  Bankhead,  Taliaferro,  Dick  and  Simon 
"Gugg."  On  the  date  last  named,  Senators  Carter  and  Crane  went 
to  the  White  House  "by  request"  to  confer  with  the  President.  The 
President,  it  is  said  on  authority,  flatly  told  the  two  Senators  that 
they  "must"  put  the  amendment  into  the  bill.  It  is  also  reported, 
and  to  their  credit,  that  the  two  Senators  argued  strenuously  against 
the  expediency  of  inserting  it,  pointing  out  the  fact  that  such  an 
amendment  would  go  out  on  a  point  of  order  under  Senate  Rule 
XVI.  Mr.  Hitchcock  was  present  throughout  the  conference. 
Incidentally,  it  may  be  likewise  noted  that  Vice-President  Sherman 
dropped  in,  quite  "by  accident"  of  course,  but  be  showed  no  hesi- 
tancy, it  is  said,  in  participating  in  the  discussion  as  actively  as 
Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  had  been  doing  from  the  beginning  of 
the  conference.  While  the  President  and  his  Postmaster  General 
were  arguing  with  the  Senators  to  prove  to  them  how  important  the 
action  was  to  the  Administration;  why  the  "rider"  must  go  into  the 
bill  as  an  amendment,  and  probably  why  it  was  "time  for  all  good 
organization  men  to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  party,"  Mr.  Sherman 
probably  dropped  a  few  timely  hints  to  the  effect  of  how  easy  it 
would  be,  with  the  gavel  in  his  hands  and  a  quick,  true  and  favoring 


58  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

eye  for  floor  recognitions,  to  get  around  Senate  Rule  XVI.  In  the 
end,  Senators  Carter  and  Crane  were  won  over  and  a  meeting  of 
the  Postoffice  and  Postroads  Committee  was  called  for  the  after- 
noon of  the  same  day,  Wednesday,  February  8th,  1911. 

When  the  committee  got  together  it  was  found  that  there  was 
not  a  single  proposition  of  any  sort  relating  to  second-class  mail  rates 
before  it  for  consideration.  Neither  was  there  a  written  suggestion, 
recommendation  or  report  bearing  upon  that  subject  before  them. 
Mr.  Hitchcock,  however,  was  present  at  this  committee  meeting. 
He  formulated  his  proposition  and  the  committee  went  into  session, 
the  discussion  being  led  by  Senators  Carter  and  Crane,  who  had  become 
"convinced"  against  their  best  judgment  if  not  against  their  will,  in 
the  forenoon  of  the  same  day,  to  support  the  amendment.  The 
discussion  lasted  for  several  hours,  with  Mr.  Hitchcock's  deficit 
occasionally  buzzing  as  his  wheels  went  round.  Then  the  committee 
adjourned  until  the  next  afternoon,  February  9th. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  left  the  room  after  the  discussion  and,  it  is  said, 
went  immediately  and  reported  to  the  President.  Upon  learning  that 
the  attitude  of  the  committee  was  unfriendly,  the  President  at  once 
began  to  turn  on  more  current,  not  hesitating  to  use  his  patronage 
club  in  doing  so,  reports  say. 

The  committee  met,  as  agreed  at  its  adjournment.  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock  was  present  with  his  rider  amendment  all  written  up  and  fully 
varnished  and  frescoed,  and  in  two  hours  Mr.  Hitchcock's  rider  amend- 
ment was  tacked  onto  the  bill,  in  wording  substantially  as  it  appears  on 
another  page. 

Then  the  real  fight  began.  Hitchcock  stood  to  his  embrazured 
guns,  to  his  reprisal  rider,  throughout  the  entire  engagement.  As  an 
evidence  that  it  was  his  rider,  or  his  and  President  Taft's,  I  desire 
here  to  present  to  the  reader  points  in  proof : 

That  picked  "discriminating"  Senate  committee  had  a  majority 
of  defeated  or  otherwise  disgruntled  politicians.  They  were  defeated 
or  disgruntled  because  certain  independent  periodicals  had,  figurative- 
ly speaking,  peeled  the  varnish  and  smooth  epidermis  off  them,  thus 
exposing  their  decayed  or  decaying  carcasses  to  a  public  not  only  able 
to  read  and  understand,  but  a  public  willing  to  read  and  understand. 

I  will  offer  a  few  other  established  facts.  Mr.  Hitchcock,  during 
the  closing  days  of  the  fight,  devoted  nearly  his  entire  time  to  pushing 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  59 

and  advocating  his  measure,  his  carefully  prepared  scheme.  A  canvass 
of  the  Senate  was  made,  which  canvass  led  Mr.  Hitchcock  to  believe 
he  had  the  votes  to  put  his  rider  over  the  course  a  sure  winner.  In 
that,  however,  he  was  mistaken.  A  number  of  the  Senators  had 
wised  up  as  to  the  real  purpose  and  purport  of  that  rider  and,  in  the 
canvass,  they  handed  back  to  him  a  little  of  his  own  peculiar  brand  of 
jolly,  which  he  had  delivered  to  them  in  unbroken  packages,  freight 
prepaid. 

After  his  canvass,  Mr.  Hitchcock  still  kept  his  oil  tank  well 
filled,  and  his  "deficit"  playing  rag-time  to  boost  his  rider  along. 
He  even  kept  his  deficit  buzzer  going  after  nearly  everyone  about  the 
Capitol  knew  that  Senators  LaFollette,  Bristow,  Owen,  Gore, 
Cummins,  Bourne,  Clapp,  Beveridge,  Borah,  Brown  and  others  in- 
tended to  talk  his  rider  into  the  ditch  or  talk  the  postoffice  appropria- 
tion bill  into  the  Sixty-second  Congress. 

Yes,  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock,  though  neither  a  very  com- 
petent nor  scrupulous  tactician,  nor  an  able  manager  for  any  large 
business,  industrial  or  other,  is  a  good  fighter.  That  much  must  be 
said  for  him.  When  a  man  fights  to  the  last  ditch  for  a  lost  or  losing 
cause  or  purpose  as  he  fought  for  his  "rider,"  that  man  has  courage, 
nerve,  whatever  we  may  call  it,  in  him.  At  any  rate  it  is  a  quality 
which  commands  respect  and  the  man  possessing  such  a  quality 
will  receive  his  just  meed  of  respect  wherever  men  are  men. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  worked  up  a  vigorous  support  for  what  The  Man 
on  the  Ladder  considers  not  only  an  objectionable  cause,  but  a  cause 
viciously  dangerous  to  our  form  of  government,  to  the  material  wel- 
fare of  our  people,  to  their  educational  advancement  as  well  as  to 
their  moral  and  intellectual  betterment. 

That  is  the  reason  he  opposes  the  purpose  of  this  rider  amendment 
and  the  methods  used  to  enact  it  into  law.  In  brief,  that  is  why  this 
book  has  been  written.  How  Mr.  Hitchcock  secured  a  following, 
even  for  the  brief  period  his  followers  followed,  for  such  a  cause  and 
the  methods  used  to  advance  it  is  as  difficult  for  me  to  work  out  or 
solve  as  the  "Pigs-in-Clover"  puzzle  or  the  "How  Old  Is  Ann" 
problem.  He  must  certainly  have  learned  some  new  "holds"  or 
tricks  in  what  Sewell  Ford  calls  "the  confidential  tackle,"  or  he  could 
not  have  secured  so  many  "falls"  in  so  short  a  time  for  a  cause  that 
was  bad  and  for  methods  even  worse,  if  such  were  possible. 


60  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

Now  we  will  take  up  the  Postmaster  General's  somewhat  prolific, 
if  not  always  lucid,  verbiage,  to  prove  that  he  knows  more  about  the 
publication  and  distribution  of  publications  than  the  most  experienced 
and  successful  periodical  publishers  have  yet  learned,  however  ex- 
perienced they  are  and  however  hard  they  have  striven  to  familiarize 
themselves  with  the  many  intricacies  which  the  business  involves. 


CHAPTER    III. 

SOME   PUBLIC-BUBBLING    FIGURES. 

Postmaster  General  Hitchcock's  persistent  activity  in  seeking  to 
push  the  "rider"  through  the  Senate  was  a  noticeable  feature  in  the 
closing  hours  of  that  session  of  Congress,  his  industry  showing  in 
his  daily  contact  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  with  the  members  who 
seemed  pliable  or  willing  to  harken  to  his  wishes  in  the  matter  per- 
taining to  the  legislation  he  wished  to  have  made  into  law.  The 
following  communications,  adroit  and  carefully  worded  to  Chairman 
Penrose,  boldly  justified  the  increase  on  second-class  matter,  and  may 
be  regarded  as  the  dying  struggle  of  the  postoffice  head  to  gain  his 
point. 

The  italics  are  the  writer's  and  set  out  the  controversial  promis- 
cuousness  of  the  Postmaster  General.  The  letters  bear  date  February 
14-15,  1911: 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  14,  1911. 

MY  DEAR  SENATOR: — In  response  to  your  request  I  submit  the  folio-wing 
statement  relative  to  the  section  of  the  postal  appropriation  bill,  H.  R.  31539,  now 
pending  in  the  Senate  that  provides  for  an  increase  in  the  postage  rate  on  the 
advertising  portions  of  periodical  publications  mailed  as  second-class  matter. 

Under  the  provision  in  the  bill  the  postage  rate  on  the  advertising  pages  of 
magazines  is  increased  from  1  cent  to  4  cents  a  pound,  but  this  increase  does  not 
apply  to  newspapers  of  any  kind,  nor  does  it  affect  periodical  publications  mailing 
less  than  4,000  pounds  each  issue.  By  the  terms  of  the  provision  the  privilege 
of  carrying  advertisements  is  for  the  first  time  extended  to  several  classes  of 
periodical  publications  enumerated  in  the  act  of  March  3,  1879,  namely,  the 
periodical  publications  of  benevolent  or  fraternal  organizations,  of  regularly  incor- 
porated institutions  of  learning,  of  trade  union  organizations,  and  of  professional, 
literary,  historical,  and  scientific  societies,  including  state  boards  of  health. 

As  the  advertising  portions  of  magazines  comprise  on  an  average  about  a 
third  of  their  total  weight  the  effect  of  an  increase  from  1  to  4  cents  on  the  adver- 
tising pages  will  be  to  advance  the  postage  rate  for  second-class  matter  as  a  whole 
about  1  cent,  making  the  second-class  rate  2  cents  a  pound  instead  of  1  cent,  as  at 
present.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  it  costs  the  government  about  9  cents  a  pound 
to  handle  and  transport  this  class  of  mail  the  proposed  increase  is  an  exceedingly 
moderate  one. 

In  a  whole  page  newspaper  advertisement  printed  on  the  12th  instant,  signed 
by  34  of  the  principal  magazine  and  periodical  publications  of  the  country,  it  is 
stated  that  the  increased  rate  "will  drive  a  majority  of  the  popular  magazines  out 

61 


62  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

of  existence,  and  with  them  the  enormous  volume  of  profitable  first-class  mail 
their  advertising  creates."  This  charge  is  made  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  some,  if 
not  all,  of  the  signers  of  the  statement  are  realizing  tremendous  profits  from  the  vast 
amount  of  high-priced  advertisements. 

It  has  been  found  on  investigation  that  one  of  the  great  periodical  publications 
signing  this  protest  contained  in  21  of  its  successive  issues,  from  January  1,  1910, 
to  and  including  May  21,  1910,  exclusive  of  cover  pages,  an  average  of  19,354  agate 
lines  of  advertising  matter,  which,  at  the  same  rate,  would  make  a  total  of  1,006,- 
408  lines  for  the  year. 

On  October  1,  1910,  the  publisher  of  this  periodical  increased  the  rate  for 
ordinary  advertising  in  his  publication  from  $5  to  $6  an  agate  line.  At  the  higher 
rate  the  gross  value  of  the  ordinary  advertising  space  for  one  year  would  amount 
to  $6,038,448.  Increased  rates  charged  for  the  inside  and  outside  cover  pages 
would  bring  $650,000,  making  a  total  gross  value  of  $6,688,448.  Allowing  a  dis- 
count of  15  per  cent,  or  $1,003,267,  there  would  remain  as  a  total  net  value  of  the 
advertising  in  this  publication  for  a  single  year  the  tremendous  sum  of  $5,685,181. 
The  additional  income  from  advertising  resulting  from  the  increased  rates  would 
amount  in  a  year  to  $957,107,  which  would  be  much  more  than  sufficient  to  pay  the 
proposed  higher  postage  rate  of  4  cents  a  pound  on  the  advertising  pages  of  the  pub- 
lication during  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1910.  In  other  words,  the  advance 
in  advertising  rates  for  this  periodical  will  not  only  meet  the  higher  postage  charges, 
but  will  leave  a  surplus  of  increased  revenue  to  swell  the  annual  profits  of  the  magazine. 

In  a  printed  statement  recently  issued  by  the  president  of  one  of  the  leading 
magazine-publishing  companies  of  New  York  City,  the  exceedingly  profitable 
nature  of  the  magazine  business  was  clearly  set  forth.  According  to  his  statement 
the  profits  of  his  own  magazine  for  the  month  of  October,  1910,  showed  an  increase 
over  the  corresponding  month  for  1909  of  100  per  cent  on  advertisements  and  151 
per  cent  on  subscriptions,  making  a  net  annual  profit  for  dividends  and  surplus, 
based  on  a  circulation  oj  500,000  copies  monthly,  of  $848,980.  Regarding  the 
periodical- publishing  business  in  general,  the  same  gentleman  says  in  his  state- 
ment that  "magazine  publishers  receive  gross  incomes  as  high  as  $6,000,000  in  a 
single  year.  Dividends  amounting  approximately  to  $1,000,000  yearly  have 
been  made."  Speaking  of  the  publishers  of  some  of  the  magazines  joining  in  the 
protest  against  the  proposed  legislation,  he  says  that  one  of  them,  according  to 
his  own  statement,  realizes  a  net  profit  of  $1,000,000  annually;  of  another,  the 
principal  owner  of  two  great  publications,  that  his  gross  income  is  more  than 
$6,000,000  annually,  and  that  his  net  profits  for  the  same  period  exceed  $1,000,000; 
of  another,  that  his  magazine  yields  more  than  10  per  cent  on  a  capital  of  $10,000,- 
000;  of  another,  that  his  net  profits  are  $600,000;  of  another,  that  the  value  of 
his  advertising  space  alone  is  $1,500,000  a  year;  of  another,  that  his  advertising 
receipts  are  $75,000  per  month  and  his  profits  are  from  $600,000  to  $800,000  per 
year ;  of  still  another,  that  his  publishing  business  represents  a  profit  of  100  per 
cent  a  year  to  its  stockholders. 


MY    DEAR    SENATOR: — On    February    13.    1911,    Everybody's    Magazine 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  63 

published  in  the  local  newspapers  a  full  page  advertisement  attacking  the  pro- 
posed increase  in  second-class  postage  carried  by  the  postal  bill  now  pending  in 
the  Senate.  In  their  statement  the  publishers  claimed  to  have  a  circulation  of 
650,000  copies  per  issue  and  asserted  that  "the  postal  measure  now  before 
Congress  increases  the  cost  of  handling  Everybody's  Magazine  $150,000  a  year." 
They  further  stated  that  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  magazine  makes  "each  year 
for  its  stockholders  about  $100,000,"  the  proposed  increase  would  "actually 
exclude  the  magazine  from  the  mails." 

The  department's  figures  for  the  calendar  year  1910  show  that  Everybody's 
Magazine  mailed  at  the  New  York  City  postoffice  2,898,372  pounds  of  its  issues  as 
second-class  matter,  on  which  the  postage  at  the  cent-a-pound  rate  was  $28,983.72. 
As  an  average  of  one-half  of  the  pages  is  devoted  to  advertising,  the  proposed 
increase  of  3  cents  per  pound  on  such  matter  would  make  the  additional  postage 
$43,475.58  per  annum  instead  of  $150,000,  as  stated  by  the  publishers  of  the 
magazine. 

Based  on  the  publishers'  statement  of  650,000  circulation,  the  gross  income 
of  Everybody's  would  be  about  $1,550,000  annually,  divided  as  follows: 

200,000  subscriptions,  at  $1  (net) $200,000 

450,000  news-stand  sales,  at  $1  (net) 450,000 

150  pages  of  advertising  per  month,  at  $500  per  page 900,000 


Grand  total $1,550,000 

Since  the  publishers  state  that  the  magazine  makes  each  year  for  its  stock- 
holders only  about  $100,000,  the  approximate  cost  of  publication  reaches  the 
surprisingly  high  figure  of  $1,450,000.  Using  their  own  statement  showing  a 
circulation  of  650,000,  it  appears  that  Everybody's  issues  7,800,000  single  copies 
annually.  If  their  total  net  profits  are  only  $100,000,  it  is  evident  that  it  must 
cost  the  publishers  approximately  19  cents  to  place  a  copy  of  the  magazine  in  the 
hands  of  a  reader  who  can  secure  it  on  the  news  stand  for  15  cents. 

Before  your  committee  reported  the  bill  providing  for  the  increased  rate  on 
second-class  matter,  the  publishers  of  Everybody's  Magazine  announced  that  on 
and  after  March  6,  1911,  their  rates  for  ordinary  advertising  would  be  advanced 
from  $500  to  $600  a  page.  On  the  extremely  conservative  estimate  that  the 
magazine  carries  a  monthly  average  of  150  advertising  pages,  this  advance  will 
produce  an  additional  income  of  $150,000  per  annum.  As  the  proposed  increase 
of  postage  during  a  like  period  will  amount  to  approximately  $43,500,  it  is  evident 
that  out  of  the  increase  of  revenue  alone  the  magazine  will  be  able  te  pay  the 
additional  postage  and  still  retain  a  considerable  surplus  for  its  stockholders. 

Yours,  very  truly, 
FRANK  H.  HITCHCOCK, 
Postmaster  General 


Investigations  recently  made  by  the  Postoffice  Department  show  that 
large  numbers  of  periodical  publications  already  entered  as  second-class  matter 
are  in  reality  nothing  more  than  trade  catalogues,  which,  under  the  law,  ought  to 
be  treated  as  third-class  matter  and  subjected  to  a  postage  charge  of  8  cents  a 


64  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

pound,  which  is  the  rate  for  catalogues.  By  inserting  a  few  pages  of  reading 
matter,  these  publications  succeeded  in  being  classed  as  magazines  and  thus 
secured  admission  at  the  cent-a-pound  rate.  Among  publications  of  this  kind  is 
one  containing  140  pages,  99  per  cent  of  which  are  devoted  to  advertisements; 
another  containing  562  pages,  97  per  cent  of  which  are  devoted  to  advertisements ; 
another  containing  238  pages,  93  per  cent  of  which  are  devoted  to  advertisements; 
and  another  containing  268  pages,  89  per  cent  of  which  are  devoted  to  advertise- 
ments. Almost  the  entire  space  in  these  publications  is  devoted  to  the  carrying 
of  commercial  advertisements,  and  this  in  defiance  of  the  statute  specifically 
excluding  from  the  second-class  privileges  "publications  designed  primarily  for 
advertising  purposes." 

By  the  proposed  law,  magazines,  in  so  far  as  they  provide  public  information, 
are  left  exactly  on  a  par  with  newspapers  and  the  smaller  periodicals,  for  the 
increase  of  rate  of  3  cents  a  pound  attaches  only  to  such  portions  of  the  magazines 
as  are  devoted  to  advertising  purposes. 

The  stock  argument  of  magazine  publishers  that  the  profit  to  the  govern- 
ment on  first-class  matter  induced  by  the  advertisements  in  their  publications 
offsets  any  loss  incurred  by  reason  of  the  low  postage  rate  on  second-class  matter 
is  disproved  by  the  fact  that  the  government's  entire  profit  on  first-class  matter 
is  less  than  the  total  loss  on  second-class  mail  matter. 

During  the  fiscal  year  1910  over  800,000,000  pounds  of  second-class  matter 
were  carried  through  the  mails  at  a  loss  to  the  government  of  $62,000,000.  The 
profits  on  all  other  classes  of  mail  matter  were  more  than  swallowed  up  by  this 
tremendous  loss,  leaving  a  postal  deficit  for  the  year  of  about  $6,000,000.  It  is 
estimated  that  the  annual  saving  to  the  government  through  the  proposed  in- 
crease in  postage  will  amount  to  about  $6,000,000,  or  enough  to  wipe  out  what 
remains  of  the  deficit. 

Magazines  have  repeatedly  increased  their  advertising  rates  as  their  circula- 
tion has  grown,  but  the  postal  charges  for  the  handling  and  transportation  of 
these  magazines  have  remained  stationary  for  years,  so  that  while  this  increased 
circulation  has  swollen  the  profits  of  the  publishers  it  has  added  correspondingly 
to  the  loss  sustained  by  the  government.  It  is  clearly  inequitable  that  the  public 
in  its  general  correspondence,  the  publishers  of  books  and  pamphlets,  and  the 
senders  of  small  merchandise  should  continue  to  be  taxed  to  meet  the  deficit 
caused  by  a  subsidy  enjoyed  by  the  publishers  of  the  large  magazines. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

FRANK  H.  HITCHCOCK, 

Postmaster  General. 


MY  DEAR  SENATOR: — Observing  that  the  periodical  publishers  in  their 
opposition  to  the  pending  provision  increasing  postage  on  second-class  mail 
matter  frequently  refer  to  the  low  rate  of  one-fourth  cent  per  pound  charged  by 
the  Dominion  of  Canada  on  newspapers  and  periodicals,  I  think  it  well  to  point 
out  the  fact  that  while  this  exceptionally  low  rate  does  prevail  in  that  country 
because  of  the  peculiar  conditions  there,  European  countries,  so  far  as  our  infor- 
mation goes,  charge  a  higher  rate  than  the  United  States,  notwithstanding  their 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  65 

much  smaller  areas.  The  rates  charged  by  Great  Britain,  Germany,  and  France 
are  considerably  higher  than  the  rate  provided  for  in  the  bill  now  pending  in 
the  Senate.  I  inclose  herewith  a  memorandum  giving  such  information  as  we 
have  regarding  the  postage  rates  charged  on  newspapers  and  periodicals  by 
European  countries.  Yours,  very  truly. 

FRANK  H.  HITCHCOCK, 

Postmaster  General. 

Postage  rate,  in  cents  per  pound,   on  newspapers  and  periodicals  in  European 

countries. 

Great  Britain  (one  forty-first  of  the  area  of  the  United  States),  1  cent  a  copy 
for  local  delivery,  but  for  general  distribution  by  parcels  post  in  quantities, 
6  cents  for  the  first  pound  and  2  cents  for  each  additional  pound  up  to  11 
pounds. 

Cents. 

Germany  (one-seventeenth  of  the  area  of  the  United  States) 44-5 

France  (one-seventeenth  of  the  area  of  the  United  States) 4 

Italy  (one  thirty-third  of  the  area  of  the  United  States) : 

Daily  newspapers 11-8 

Other  publications 2 

Holland  (one  two-hundred-and-eighty-fourth  of  the  area  of  the  United  States)!  4-5 
Belgium  (one  three-hundred-and-eighteenth  of  the  area  of  the  United  States).!  1-5 
Under  the  provisions  of  the  International  Postal  Convention,  newspapers 
and  periodicals  are  mailed  by  all  the  signatory  parties  at  the  uniform  rate  of  1 
cent  for  each  2  ounces  or  fraction  thereof — practically,  8  cents  per  pound. 

Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  in  his  letter,  submitted  under  date 
of  February  14,  1911,  quotes  some  publisher  (name  not  mentioned), 
as  saying  that  "magazine  publishers  receive  gross  incomes  as  high  as 
$6,000,000  in  a  single  year"  ....  "that  one  of  them,  according 
to  his  own  statement,  realizes  a  net  profit  of  $1,000,000  annually" 
....  another,  "the  principal  owner  of  two  great  magazines,  says 
that  his  gross  income  is  more  than  $6,000,000  a  year;"  of  another  "that 
his  magazine  yields  more  than  10%  profit  on  a  capitalization  of 
$10,000,000,"  etc.,  etc. 

Beyond  stating  that  the  foregoing  declarations  were  made  by  the 
"President  of  one  of  the  leading  magazine  publishing  companies  of 
New  York  city,"  Mr.  Hitchcock  sayeth  not,  save  as  he  quotes  (see 
seventh  paragraph  of  the  Hitchcock  letter),  this  President  as  saying 
what  Mr.  Hitchcock  says  he  said.  The  Postmaster  General  does  not 
name  this  "President." 

Regretting  this  oversight  of  our  Postmaster  General  very  much, 
I  would  like  to  know  whether  or  not  this  "President"  is  the  real, 


66  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

genuine  article  of  president,  or  is  merely  one  of  these  "phoney" 
presidents  who  laboriously  support  the  honors  of  the  corporate  title 
and  vote  three  shares  of  stock,  usually  given  by  the  promoters  of  an 
organization  for  the  "influence"  of  an  honored  name  in  starting  the 
wheels  to  revolve. 

I  mean  by  this  that  it  would  be  information  to  thousands  of  Mr. 
Hitchcock's  readers,  as  well  as  to  thousands  of  publishers  and 
printers,  and  numerous  millions  of  American  citizens,  had  he,  Mr. 
Hitchcock,  told  them  whether  this  "President"  he  quotes  so  liberally, 
likewise  confidently  and  confidingly,  is  a  real,  live-wire  president, 
active  in  the  management  of  his  periodical,  and,  therefore,  fully 
informed  as  to  its  business,  expenditures,  profits,  etc.,  etc.,  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  whether  or  not  he  is  merely  a  corporation  stool-bird  for 
the  promotion  of  a  publication  enterprise  through  selling  the  stock  of 
the  concern  to  the  E.  Z.-Mark  investing  public. 

The  quotations  which  our  Postmaster  General  makes  from  this 
publisher  "President"  sound  to  me  with  quite  a  familiar  tang.  They 
read  a  good  bit  like  a  promotion  circular,  like  an  "annual  statement" 
which  corporations  and  companies  as  well  as  individuals  print  and 
distribute  to  call  attention  to  the  prosperous  future  they  have  in  sight, 
incidentally  inviting  investment  from  savings  banks  accounts,  stocking 
hoardings,  etc. 

Nothing  wrong  about  that  method  of  "public  bubbling"  at  all. 
Even  banking  institutions,  national  and  state,  sometimes  resort  to  it. 
Occasionally,  commercial  houses  have  used  it.  So,  also,  has  the  Steel 
Corporation,  when  it  wished  its  employes  to  chip  in  a  few  millions  for 
"a  personal  interest."  Our  friend,  "Bet-You-a-Million-Gates,"  used 
it  to  advantage  in  reorganizing  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  system, 
and  it  is  a  practice  now  and  again  indulged  in  among  our  Napoleons 
of  finance,  as  well  as  great  captains  in  the  industrial  realm. 

For  this  reason  I  cannot — until  our  Postmaster  General  further 
enlightens  us  regarding  this  publisher-president  as  to  his  personality, 
individuality  and  general  business  activity  in  and  knowledge  of, 
his  own  publication  business, — say  anything  in  adverse  criticism  of 
this  "President"  Mr  Hitchcock  quotes  so  liberally,  likewise 
unctuously. 

However,  having  been  a  periodical  publisher  myself,  in  a  small 
way,  I  shall  presume  here  to  present  a  few  figures  approximately 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  67 

applicable  to  larger  periodical  enterprises.  Mr.  Hitchcock  has  much 
to  say  about  gross  receipts,  gross  revenues,  and  other  gross.  I  shall 
present  my  estimate  of  net  profits.  For  this  purpose,  I  shall  take  a 
monthly  periodical  reputedly  issuing  650,000  copies  a  month,  each 
number  weighing  about  one  pound. 

Now,  let  it  be  here  distinctly  understood  by  the  reader  that  my 
figures,  mostly  estimates,  are  those  of  a  man  with  experience  only  as 
a  small  periodical  publisher,  say  of  50,000  a  month,  not  650,000. 

Estimated  income  of  the  publisher  of  a  standard  monthly 
periodical  distributing  650,000  copies  monthly  of  average  weight  of 
one  pound  each,  Mr.  Hitchcock  figures  to  be  (see  his  letter),  about 
$6,000,000.  The  gross  annual  receipts  from  subscriptions  on  a  period- 
ical issuing  650,000  copies  per  month,  and  retailing  at  15  cents  per 
copy,  is  less  than  $750,000.  Such  periodicals  realize  about  12J  cents 
each  for  subscribed  copies  and  8  cents  net  for  copies  delivered  in  bulk 
to  newsdealers  and  agencies.  The  first  item  of  expense  the  publisher 
incurs,  therefore,  is  in  the  issue  cost  of  production  over  what  he  re- 
ceives for  the  copies  issued.  It  is  knowledge  common  to  every  periodi- 
cal publisher,  newspaper  as  well  as  magazine,  that  every  subscriber 
as  well  as  news-stand  buyer  of  his  periodical  is  a  subsidized  reader.  Do 
you  catch  the  import  of  that  statement? 

Did  you  ever  think  of  that,  Mr.  Reader?  Frankly  I  confess  that 
I  did  not,  until  quite  recently,  when  a  large  producer  of  trade  journals 
and  edition  books,  and  likewise  one  of  our  largest  manufacturing 
printers,  pointed  out  the  facts  to  me.  His  varied  business 
interests  are  such  that  he  must  necessarily  buy  at  the  lowest  market 
cost,  must  know  to  the  fraction  of  a  cent  what  those  costs  are — the 
cost  of  composition,  of  presswork,  of  ink,  of  color  work,  of  covers,  of 
binding,  of  cartage,  of  rail  haulage,  of  distribution,  etc.,  etc. 

Well,  this  gentleman  summoned  me  off  the  ladder,  and  "called" 
me  in  a  way  which  made  my  landing  somewhat  abrupt,  in  order  to  tell 
me  some  things  about  periodical  publishing  which  he  had  shrewdly, 
likewise  correctly,  guessed  that  I  did  not  know. 

Among  the  things  he  told  me,  not  only  told  me  but  proved  to 
me,  was  the  one  stated:  that  readers  of  periodicals  get,  in  net 
mechanical  cost,  more  than  the  publishers  receive  for  the  publication  sold. 

In  proof  of  this  he  cited  the  8-page  dailies  issued  in  cities  of  the 
second  and  third  classes,  and  the  16  to  32-page  dailies  published  in 


68  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

our  metropolitan  cities;  also  the  great  "Sunday  Editions"  issued  by 
the  latter,  issues  which  run  more  largely  to  color  and  tonnage  than  to 
news  and  literature.  The  former,  (the  dailies),  my  publisher  friend 
pointed  out,  realize  about  six-tenths  of  one  cent  a  copy — a  little  less, 
if  they  do  cartage  for  any  considerable  part  of  their  local  deliveries 
or  pay  rail  haulage  charges  on  outside  deliveries.  Of  course,  my  tutor 
is  speaking  of  news  agents  and  carrier  deliveries.  On  their  regular 
subscribed  issues  publishers  realize  a  little  more.  But  the  difference, 
when  cost  of  wrapping  and  -  addressing  is  figured,  is  so 
trifling  as  not  to  be  worth  considering.  It  can  be  safely  figured  that 
the  net  price  received  by  the  publisher  of  a  newspaper  is  six-tenths  of 
one  cent  for  the  daily  and  about  three  and  a  half  cents — probably 
nearer  three  cents — for  the  leviathan  metropolitan  Sunday  edition. 

Just  here  is  where  my  publisher  friend's  knowledge  of  market 
costs  came  forth  for  my  enlightenment  and,  I  sincerely  hope,  for  my 
reader's  as  well.  Having  studied  his  business  from  the  "stumpage" 
up,  so  to  speak,  he  began  with  the  cost  of  pulp  wood  timber,  "of 
stumpage,"  from  the  spruce  forests  of  the  north  and  farther  north,  the 
scattered  linn  or  basswood  of  the  east  and  southeast,  and  of  the  soft 
maple  and  cottonwood  of  the  southeast  and  south.  Then  he  told  me 
of  the  prices  paid  the  "lumber  jacks"  to  fell  and  saw  this  pulpwood ;  of 
the  cost  of  hauling  it  by  ox,mule  or  horsepower  to  the  river  "roll-way," 
which  river  would  carry  it  down  to  the  pulp  mill,  or  hauling  it  to 
the  railroad  loading  station  for  rail  carriage  to  the  same  point. 

Nor  did  he  do  that  only.  He  told  me  the  price  of  the  "web  press 
roll"  and  of  "flat-print"  papers  into  which  the  wood  pulp  is  made, 
paper  stock  on  which  is  printed  all  our  periodicals — both  newspapers 
and  monthly  and  weekly  periodicals.  Next  he  told  me  of  the  price 
of  composition,  (typesetting,  as  we  used  to  call  it),  by  the  most 
modern  methods,  the  linotype  and  the  monotype  machines.  Then 
he  talked  of  ink  and  presswork  costs,  of  color  work,  folding,  stitching 
and  covering  or  binding;  of  the  cost  of  wrapping,  addressing,  cartage, 
rail  haulage  and  distribution.  The  result  of  the  expert's  showing  of 
the  cost  of  raw  material  and  of  skilled  and  other  labor  in  periodical 
publication,  as  the  periodicals  are  printed  and  marketed  today,  was  to 
the  effect  that  the  reader  gets  his  daily,  weekly  or  monthly  publica- 
tion, on  an  average,  at  less  than  half  what  it  costs  the  publisher  to 
produce  it. 


POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS.  69 

Further,  it  was  conclusively  shown  to  me,  that  the  publisher's 
net  receipts  for  a  newspaper,  magazine  or  other  periodical  is  often  but 
a  third,  sometimes  less  than  a  fourth,  of  the  net  cost  to  him  of  its  pro- 
duction and  distribution. 

With  this  preliminary,  we  will  now  go  back  to  our  magazine  of 
650,000  monthly  issue  and  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock's  estimate 
of  its  profits. 

Postmaster  General  Hitchcock's  talk  of  "gross"  receipts  of 
$6,000,000  a  year  is  ill  advised.  Let  us  see  what  must  be  charged  off 
from  that  $6,000,000  before  the  publisher  can  count  his  profits. 

First,  we  will  figure  the  publisher's  loss  on  published  copies. 
Taking  only  the  flat  cost  of  paper,  ink  and  composition;  of  the  cost 
of  fine  color  and  half-tone  pages  such  as  monthly  periodicals  must 
print;  of  cover  designing,  presswork,  and  binding,  of  wrapping  and 
addressing,  say  150,000  copies  of  the  monthly  issue  to  individual 
addresses,  that  being,  approximately  at  least,  the  number  of  subscribed 
readers  the  publisher  will  have  on  a  total  issue  of  650,000  copies. 
Next  comes  the  cost  of  sacking  his  subscribed  circulation  and  of 
bundling  and  wrapping,  then  of  cartage  to  mail  trains.  The  promi- 
nent periodical  publisher  not  only  delivers  his  subscribed  list  sacked 
to  the  mail  car,  but  he  routes  the  larger  portion  of  it,  the  railway  mail 
clerks  having  nothing  to  do  with  it  save  to  dump  it  off  at  the  designa- 
ted stations.  Then  he  must  meet  the  carriage  and  delivery  cost,  about 
1  cent  a  pound,  or  $20.00  a  ton.  All  these  I  consider  flat  costs  of 
producing  and  delivering  the  publication.  To  this  flat  cost  must  be 
added  the  expenditures  for  contributing  writers,  for  editors,  proof- 
readers and  special  investigators  (including  travel  and  other  expenses), 
stenographers,  postage  and  stationery  for  a  large  correspondence, 
clerical,  messenger  and  other  administration  service,  rents,  insurance, 
etc.,  etc.  And,  finally,  the  expenditures  made  in  the  way  of  com- 
missions and  premiums  to  work  up  a  subscribed  issue. 

A  monthly  periodical  of  the  size  and  character  which  Post- 
master General  Hitchcock  has  reference  to — of  the  size  and  character 
to  win  its  way  to  an  issue  of  650,000  copies  a  month — must  cost  its 
publisher  not  less,  on  an  average,  than  30  cents  per  copy,  probably 
more.  The  subscribing  reader  pays  12  J  cents  per  copy  for  it — pays 
directly  to  the  publisher.  The  news  stand  buyer  pays  15  cents  a 
copy,  but  the  publisher,  after  paying  newsdealer  and  agency  com- 


70  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

missions  on  the  latter  sales,  realizes  but  8  cents  per  copy.  Here  let 
us  see  how  this  publisher's  circulation-cost  and  receipts  figure  out. 
Six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  monthly  issue  figures  to  an  issue  of 
7,800,000  copies  for  the  year.  At  30  cents'  cost  of  production,  which 
is  rather  low  than  high,  those  copies  cost  the  publisher  to  produce,  to 
get  readers  for  and  to  distribute,  the  annual  total  of  $2,340,000. 
He  realizes  in  return  from  subscription  and  news  stand  sales  about 
as  follows: 

From   news  stand  and    agency    sales    (500,000    per    month, 
or  6,600,000  copies  a  year),  he  realizes  8  cents  per  copy  or.  ...  $480,000 

From  subscribers  (150,000  per  month  or  1,800,000  a 
year),  at  12J  cents  each 225,000 


Total  receipts $705,000 

Thus  it  is  clear  that  for  an  expenditure  of  $2,340,000  a  year  to 
produce  and  distribute  his  excellent  low-priced  periodical  to  readers, 
the  publisher  gets  in  return  only  $705,000,  thus  standing  a  net  loss 
of  $1,635,000  on  his  mechanical  output — no,  on  his  literary  and 
educational  output.  And,  mark  you,  that  $705,000  Mr.  Hitchcock 
must,  necessarily,  have  included  in  his  "gross"  receipts.  How,  then, 
is  the  publisher  able  to  furnish  his  readers  such  literary  and  edu- 
cational nourishment  at  so  great  a  loss  on  production? 

There  is  but  one  answer :  The  advertising  carried  by  the  period- 
ical must  recoup  the  loss  on  publication  and  yield  the  publisher  what- 
ever profit  he  may  realize.  Yet  Mr.  Hitchcock,  in  the  profound 
profundity  of  his  knowledge  of  periodical  publishing,  figures  that  the 
advertising  receipts  are  clear  profit  to  the  publisher.  True,  he  does, 
in  one  of  his  urgent  letters  to  Senator  Penrose,  I  believe  it  is,  incident- 
ally admit  a  possible  maximum  cost  or  expense  of  "fifteen  per  cent" 
in  securing  and  printing  the  advertisements.  "Fifteen  per  cent!" 

Omitting  all  undigestible  words,  I  shall  merely  say  that  Mr. 
Hitchcock's  fifteen  per  cent  talk — about  the  cost  of  soliciting  and 
printing  advertising  matter  by  any  of  our  high-class  periodicals  shows 
a  knowledge  of  the  subject  nearly  on  the  level  of  that  of  a  cold-storage 

egg- 

Why,  fifteen  per  cent  of  the  gross  receipts  for  advertising  by 
any  of  our  high-class  periodicals  scarcely  would  meet — I  doubt  if 
in  any  such  case  it  does  meet — the  expenditures  made  for  skilled  "lay- 


POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  71 

out"  men  and  designers.  Everyone  knows  that  the  advertising 
pages  of  any  of  our  standard  weekly  and  monthly  periodicals  are  art 
pages.  People  read  the  "ads"  in  these  periodicals.  They  are  largely 
attracted  to  them  by  their  artistic  arrangement,  typographically  and 
in  design.  It  takes  brains  to  make  that  arrangement,  brains  of  finer 
fiber  or  better  trained  than  the  cold  storage  variety.  The  service  of 
such  brains  costs  money.  Who  pays  it?  The  publisher.  And  the 
publisher  who  gets  the  services  of  such  brains  at  less  than  fifteen  per 
cent  of  the  "gross"  charge  for  his  advertising  must,  in  these  days,  be 
a  wonder  in  business  acumen  or  a  "pow'ful  'suadin'  boss,"  as  Rastus 
used  to  say,  down  on  the  Yazoo,  years  ago,  when  he  took  a  job  at 
twenty-five  cents  a  day  less  than  he  had  asked. 

I  say  the  people  read  these  "ads"  and,  fearing  I  shall  forget  it 
later,  I  desire  to  interpolate  here  another  thought:  They  are  led  to 
read  them  because  of  the  artistic  letterpress,  the  designing,  the 
attractive  phrasing,  catchy  wording,  etc.  They  read  them.  You 
and  7  read  them.  And — well,  that  is  my  point — my  thought. 

The  "ads"  in  periodicals  of  the  class  of  which  we  are  speaking 
cover  almost  every  field  and  domain  of  life — of  human  life — of  our 
lives.  They  tell  us  of  the  latest  inventions  and  achievements  in  the 
mechanical  and  industrial  world;  of  the  latest  improvements  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  land;  of  the  latest  and  best  in  "hen  range"  manage- 
ment and  "run- way"  poultry  raising;  of  the  latest  achievements  of 
Luther  Burbank,  or  some,  other  wizard  in  the  domain  of  pomology; 
of  kitchen  and  flower  gardening;  of  how  to  cut  down  our  gas  bills; 
to  make  the  ton  of  coal  deliver  more  "duty" — more  thermic  B.  T. 
U.'s — of  the  best  new  books  and  of  bargain  reprint  editions  of  the 
best  old  ones;  of  where  to  get  a  cheap  home,  cheap  acres  around  it 
and  how  to  build  and  furnish  a  comfortable  home  cheaply;  in  fact, 
of  an  infinity  of  daily  and  hourly  needs.  So  what  is  the  use  of  my 
enumerating  further?  Every  reader  knows  what  those  "ads"  in  our 
standard  periodicals  do  for  us.  They  enlighten,  they  inform,  they 
educate  us.  And  that  is  why  we  read  them,  and  that  is  why  we 
should  continue  to  do  so. 

We  will  get  back  now  to  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  his  "wondrous 
ways"  of  figuring  a  publisher's  profits  on  the  advertising  he  prints. 
Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  appears  to  have  ignored  the  fact  I 
have  already  pointed  out — ignored  the  fact  that  the  publisher's  heav- 


72  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

iest  loss  is  on  the  printing  and  distribution  end  of  his  periodical,  and 
thus  is  a  charge  against  his  advertising  receipts. 

Mr.  Hitchcock,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  read  him,  further- 
more ignores  the  important  fact  that  advertisements  are  secured  for 
a  periodical  largely  by  solicitation.  Of  course,  the  "Want,"  "To 
Rent,"  "For  Sale"  and  similar  small  line  "ads"  come  to  newspapers 
largely  without  personal  solicitation.  But  the  display  advertiser 
does  not  frantically  rush  to  the  publisher  and  say:  "Here's  my 
check  for  $500.00.  Give  me  a  page  display  for  this  line  of  goods." 
Not  at  all.  The  publisher  must  go  after  him  and,  not  infrequently, 
go  after  him  numerous  times  before  he  lands  his  $500.00  or  $5,000.00 
contract  or  order.  To  secure  such  advertisements  the  publisher  em- 
ploys the  most  skilled  advertising  solicitors  within  reach  of  his  bank 
balance.  Such  men,  if  carried  on  his  regular  payroll,  are  among  the 
"high-salaried"  human  units  which  make  up  the  operating,  managing 
and  service  personnel  of  his  business.  If  they  are  not  on  regular 
salary  the  publisher  must  pay  such  men  a  liberal  commission  on  the 
contracts  secured,  a  commission  seldom  or  never  as  low  as  10  per  cent 
and  I  have  known  them  to  range  as  high  as  40  or  50  per  cent  of  the 
gross  price  received  on  the  first  or  initial  contract,  "just  to  show  the 
advertiser  what  we  can  do  for  him,"  as  the  publisher  frequently 
reasons, 

TESTIMONY    UNDER    OATH. 

Senate  Document  No.  820  presents  a  reply  by  some  publishers  to 
Mr  Hitchcock's  loose  or  reckless  statements  on  the  point  under  con- 
sideration. I  wish  to  appropriate  for  use  here  some  very  manifestly 
truthful  statements  made  in  that  Senate  Document  No.  820.  I  shall 
summarize  or  quote  as  best  fits  my  line  of  presentation. 

In  1909  the  publishers  of  five  standard  magazines,  admittedly 
carrying  "the  largest  amount  of  advertising"  among  the  monthly 
periodicals,  made  a  sworn  statement  covering  their  receipts,  expendi- 
tures and  net  profits.  That  sworn  statement  is  on  file  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  and  Labor  and  is  easily  accessible  to  the  Post- 
master General  if  he  desires  to  know  a  little  something  of  what  the 
publishers  know  about  their  own  business.  The  publishers  of  the  five 
periodicals  thus  making  sworn  statements  to  the  government  of  their 
incomes,  expenditures  and  profits,  are  the  publishers  of  "Everybody's," 


POSTAL  RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  73 

"McClure's"  "The  Review  of  Reviews,"  "The  Cosmopolitan"  and 
"The  American." 

The  named  periodicals,  it  will  be  at  once  recognized,  if  not 
the  strongest,  at  least  are  among  the  strongest  monthly  periodicals  of 
this  country.  Yet  these  sworn  statements  show  that  Mr.  Hitchcock's 
proposed  increase  of  3  cents  a  pound  in  their  mailing  rates  would, 
under  present  conditions,  exhaust  "81.8  percent  of  their  net  profits." 

If  Mr.  Hitchcock's  proposal,  prompted,  it  would  appear,  by 
ulterior  motives,  as  was  recently  evidenced  by  his  voluminous  button- 
holing of  interested  or  "interests"  Senators  and  Congressmen  to  put 
his  "rider"  over — no,  maybe  it  is  not  really  his,  but  it  looks  like  him — 
for  an  increase  on  second-class  matter  would,  if  made  operative, 
would  so  seriously  impair  the  financial  strength  of  five  such  strong 
periodicals  as  those  named,  what,  it  is  the  part  both  of  duty  and  of 
honesty  to  ask,  will  become  of  the  scores  of  smaller  periodicals,  espe- 
cially of  those  periodicals  which  issue  more  than  "two  tons"  at  a 
mailing  and  which  serve,  inform  and  educate  a  reading  patronage  that 
needs  them? 

If  Mr.  Hitchcock's  actions  in  this  matter  are  clean  and  open — not 
"influenced" — he  might  not  only  serve  himself  but  a  good  and  worthy 
cause  as  well,  if  he  would  give  some  pointers  to  these  smaller  publish- 
ers— those  between  his  "4,000  pounds  an  issue"  exemptions  from  his 
four-cent  rate  and  the  stronger  periodical  publications,  five  of  which 
are  before  him  in  sworn  statement.  If  he  would  give,  I  say,  these 
middle-class  publishers— we  may  so  call  them  for  the  comparison  in 
hand,  though  their  published  matter  is  of  the  highest  class  all  the  time— 
if  he  would  give  such  publishers  some  method  or  scheme  to  keep  from 
the  financial  rocks,  they,  I  am  quite  sure,  would  greatly  appreciate  it. 
Possibly  they  would  put  him  on  their  free  lists  in  perpetuity. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  appears  to  be  a  phenomenon  at  "figurin'  "  and  for 
the  devising  of  methods  to  obliterate  postofiice  "deficits;"  also  at 
following  the  ulterior  motive  and  its  "influence,"  and  still  provide, 
by  exemptions  or  otherwise,  to  protect  the  "fence-building"  country 
newspapers, — indeed  neswpapers  in  general,  now  that  I  read  him 
again.  Likewise  he  protects  the  farm,  the  religious,  the  scientific,  the 
mechanical  and  other  publications  whose  influence,  it  appears,  does 
not  obstructively  influence  the  "influences"  which  have  directed  his 
recent  action. 


74  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

I  do  not  know  who  wrote  that  Senate  Document  No.  820. 
Whoever  it  was,  he  certainly  knew  "a  gob  of  things,"  as  our  splendid 
friend,  the  washerwoman,  would  put  it,  about  the  United  States 
Postoffice  Department,  its  management  and  its  methods.  I  shall 
probably  "crib"  or  plagiarize  several  times  from  this  Senate  Docu- 
ment No.  820,  but  just  here  I  desire  to  quote  a  paragraph  from  it : 

"Postmaster  General  Hitchcock's  profound  ignorance  concerning 
the  relation  of  magazine  advertising  to  magazine  profits  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  although  these  magazines  received  in  1909,  $2,463,940.39 
for  advertising,  the  aggregate  of  their  net  incomes  was  only  $230,- 
734.57, — less  than  one-tenth  of  their  advertising  receipts." 

This  Document  No.  820  is  all  good,  so  good  that  I  believe  I  will 
reprint  from  it  further  and  at  this  point: 

Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  proceeds  in  the  first  and  second  paragraphs 
on  page  four  to  cite  a  recent  increase  of  advertising  rates  of  a  certain  magazine, 
and  to  consider,  and  use  in  figuring,  as  net  profits  the  total  amount  of  advertising 
it  carries  for  the  year. 

(It  is  of  incidental  interest,  in  showing  the  partisan  attitude  of  the  Postmaster 
General,  that  in  calculating  the  total  amount  of  advertising  received  by  this 
publication,  he  takes  the  number  of  lines  actually  printed  in  this  weekly's 
richest  advertising  season,  ignoring  the  fact  that  in  the  summer  this  periodical  is 
sometimes  published  at  a  loss,  and  makes  an  estimate  of  its  advertising  patronage 
for  the  whole  year  on  the  basis  of  what  it  received  in  the  months  when  advertising 
is  at  its  height). 

But  the  gigantic  error  of  the  Postmaster  General  is  in  calculating  the  addition- 
al income  from  advertising  for  this  weekly  resulting  from  its  increased  advertising 
rate,  and  assuming  that  this  increased  income  is  all  profit.  This  error  arises  from 
the  Postmaster  General's  total  ignorance  of  the  publishing  business  in  general ;  and 
in  particular,  of  the  fact  proved  above,  that  the  magazines  save  only  a  small  frac- 
tion of  their  aggregate  advertising  income  as  net  profits  after  paying  the  expenses 
of  production  and  administration. 

Then  the  Postmaster  General  finds  out  how  much  money  the  increased  rate 
brought  the  periodical  and  observes  with  an  air  of  finality  that  this  income  was 
more  than  sufficient  to  meet  the  higher  postal  charges. 

The  facts  are,  of  course,  that  to  get  this  higher  advertising  rate,  the  "great 
periodical"  had  to  publish  enough  more  copies  and  additional  reading  matter  in 
those  copies  to  justify  the  increased  rate ;  and  that  to  manufacture  and  supply 
these  additional  subscriptions  it  costs  magazines  more  than  twice  as  much  as  they 
get  from  subscribers.  Furthermore,  the  Postmaster  General  takes  gross  adver- 
tising income  as  net  profit,  apparently  thinking  that  advertising  flows  into  periodi- 
cal offices  without  the  asking,  where,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  necessary  to  spend 
enormous  sums  for  high-priced  men  to  solicit  advertising,  for  other  men  to  lay  out 
plans  and  make  designs  for  advertisers,  and  for  a  large  clerical  force  to  handle 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  75 

the  advertising  department.  The  calm  way  in  which  the  Postmaster  General 
ignores  the  cost  of  presswork  and  paper  on  which  the  advertising  is  printed,  ex- 
hibits his  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  there  is  in  business  an  expense  side  of  the 
ledger  as  well  as  an  income  side. 

If  a  magazine  has  100,000  circulation  and  a  fair  corresponding  rate  for 
advertising  and  if  the  circulation  is  then  increased  to  200,000,  the  publisher  has 
the  same  right  and  the  same  necessity  to  charge  more  for  the  doubled  circulation 
that  a  grocer  has  to  charge  more  for  two  pounds  of  tea  than  for  one  pound.  But 
what  possible  relation  has  this  to  the  fact  that  postage  rates  have  remained  sta- 
tionary? The  postoffice  gives  no  more  service  than  it  did  before  magazine  circulations 
and  advertising  increased — in  fact  it  gives  less,  as  it  now  requires  the  big  maga- 
zines to  separate  and  tag  for  distribution,  and,  in  many  cases,  deliver  to  the  trains, 
a  vast  quantity  of  magazine  mail,  formerly  handled  entirely  by  the  postoffice. 

I  wonder  if  Mr.  Hitchcock  ever  read  "Job  Jobson,  Nos.  1,  2  and 
3."  If  he  has  not  there  is  something  due  him  which  he  ought  to 
take  immediate  steps  to  collect.  "Job  Jobson"  in  three  little  pamph- 
lets tells  more  than  either  Mr.  Hitchcock  or  myself  will  ever  be  able 
to  learn  about  second-class  mail  carriage  and  handling — unless,  of 
course,  we  read  those  three  booklets  of  Job  Jobson. 

Why  are  Job  Jobson's  three  booklets  so  important?  A  very 
pertinent  question,  indeed,  at  this  stage  of  our  consideration.  Job 
Jobson's  three  booklets  are  toweringly  important  inasmuch  as  they 
were  written  by  Wilmer  Atkinson,  publisher  of  the  Farm  Journal  of 
Philadelphia,  one  of  the  most  successful  as  well  as  the  most  useful 
farm  periodicals  the  world  has  ever  produced. 

More  than  that,  Mr.  Atkinson  has  so  long  and  so  thoroughly 
studied  this  second-class  mail  rate  question  that  both  Mr.  Hitchcock 
and  myself  would  have  to  take  our  places  in  the  kindergarten  class 
where  he  is  tutor. 

I  haven't  those  three  "Job  Jobson's"  by  me.  I  have  thumbed 
two  of  them  out  of  existence,  but  from  the  one  I  have  I  desire  to 
quote  a  couple  of  paragraphs  which  I  hope  it  will  do  Mr.  Hitchcock 
as  much  good  to  read  as  it  does  me  to  re-read.  Here  they  are  in  all 
their  vigor : 

Publishers,  one  and  all,  should  take  their  stand  upon  the  immutable  principle 
that  newspaper  circulation  is  not  a  crime,  and  it  is  not  a  fault,  that  neither  a 
law  on  the  statute  books,  much  less  arbitrary  power  outside  the  law,  should 
ever  be  invoked  to  curtail  the  liberty  and  independence  of  the  press,  which  are  a 
sacred  inheritance  from  the  fathers;  or  to  cripple  newspaper  enterprises  or 
bankrupt  those  engaged  in  this  noble  calling. 

That  to  send  their  papers  into  the  very  confines  of  the  republic,  into  every 


76  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

home,  however  rich,  however  humble,  to  brighten  and  to  bless,  is  a  great  and 
beneficent  work,  worthy  of  all  praise  and  all  honor — worthy  of  the  nurturing 
care,  rather  than  the  antagonism  of  government. 

And  that  was  written  only  a  few  years  ago — written  true  to  the 
facts.  I  desire  here  to  quote  a  couple  more  paragraphs.  They  have 
been  published  generally  throughout  the  country  and  universally 
indorsed.  They  are  written  by  the  Hon.  Woodrow  Wilson,  Governor 
of  New  Jersey : 

A  tax  upon  the  business  of  the  more  widely  circulated  magazines  and 
periodicals  would  be  a  tax  upon  their  means  of  living  and  performing  their  func- 
tions. They  obtain  their  circulation  by  their  direct  appeal  to  the  popular  thought. 
Their  circulation  attracts  advertisers.  Their  advertisements  enable  them  to  pay 
their  writers  and  to  enlarge  their  enterprise  and  influence. 

This  proposed  new  postal  rate  would  be  a  direct  tax,  and  a  very  serious  one, 
upon  the  formation  and  expression  of  opinion — its  most  deliberate  formation  and 
expression — just  at  a  time  when  opinion  is  concerning  itself  most  actively  and 
effectively  with  the  deepest  problems  of  our  politics  and  our  social  life.  To  make 
such  a  change,  whatever  its  intentions  in  the  minds  of  those  who  proposed  it, 
would  be  to  attack  and  embarrass  the  free  processes  of  opinion. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

BUREAUCRATIC    POWERS    SOUGHT. 

I  have  before  me  the  Postmaster  General's  report  for  1910.  It 
presents  a  large  amount  of  information  both  in  statistical  tabulation 
and  in  "straight  matter."  A  portion  of  the  former,  however,  leaves 
the  average  lay  mind  rambling  around  in  circles,  wondering  what  in 
the  name  of  all  that  is  lofty  it  was  compiled  for,  what  service  value  it 
can  possibly  have  and  what  was  the  ailment  from  which  the  fellow 
who  compiled  it  suffered ;  that  is,  was  his  a  case  merely  of  bad  liver 
or  indigestion,  or  a  serious  case  of  ingrown  intellect,  struggling  to  help 
his  fellowmen  know  how  real  dizzy  and  foolish  tabulated  figures  can 
be  made  to  appear? 

Mr.  Hitchcock  in  this  1910  report  has  separated  himself  from 
some  striking  oddities,  about  as  serviceably  valuable  as  a  smoking 
compartment  would  be  to  a  laundry  wagon.  Of  course,  it  may  be 
that  Mr.  Hitchcock  did  not  write  the  division  of  this  report  signed  by 
him.  Some  talented  secretary,  clerk  or  assistant  may  have  cranked  it 
up.  However  that  may  be,  do  not  let  what  I  here  say  deter  you  from 
looking  through  this  1910  report  should  it  come  your  way.  It  con- 
tains a  variety  of  excellent  things,  some  valuable  information,  well 
collated  and  intelligibly  presented.  The  foolishness  and  fooleries  in  it 
are — well,  they  are  of  the  kind  common  to  all,  or  at  least  most, depart- 
mental reports,  federal,  state,  county  and  city.  Much  of  the  tabu- 
lated ''statistics"  in  each  can  have  no  possible  service  value  either  in 
this  world  or  the  next — even  assuming  that  statistics  and  statisti- 
cians will  be  recognized  at  all  in  that  division  of  the  "next"  to  which 
we  all  aspire. 

As  to  the  "straight  matter"  in  these  departmental  reports,  one 
often  finds  in  it  some  most  excellent  suggestions,  as  is  certainly  the 
case  with  Mr.  Hitchcock's  1910  production.  One  also  finds  a  lot  of 
other  suggestions  and  space-written  stuff  that  would  make  a  totem 
laugh — that  is,  of  course,  presuming  a  totem  could  laugh  and  had 
advanced  as  far  as  the  third  grammar  school  grade  in  reading. 

And  the  "literary  style"  of  these  official  reports;  so  aerial  in 
elevation,  so  officially  dignified  in  "tone,"  so  profusely  profound  or 

77 


78  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

profoundly  profuse  in  elaboration  and  detail,  and  often  so  trivial  in 
significance  or  import ! 

If  they  were  still  with  us,  the  "literary"  standard  of  most  of  these 
departmental  reports  would  make  Bertha  M.  Clay  hug  the  rail  and 
E.  P.  Roe  carry  weight.  But,  of  course,  one  must  not  look  for  nor 
expect  literary  exaltedness  in  a  departmental  report.  It  should, 
however,  tell  us — we  people — a  good  many  things  we  wish  to  know, 
in  fact,  ought  to  know.  It  should  not  give  us  too  much  talk  merely 
to  show  us  how  much — or  how  little — some  chief  or  assistant  knows. 
If  you  get  the  opportunity,  read  the  Postmaster  General's  1910  report, 
and  you  will  find  many  things  in  it  that  will  jar  you  loose  from  your 
expectations,  but  do  not  be  alarmed  at  that.  Just  keep  in  mind  the 
fact  that  you  can  come  as  near  reciting  the  Rubaiyat  backwards  as 
can  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock,  and  that  you  at  least  know  Old 
Mother  Hubbard  "by  heart"  as  well  as  he  knows  it. 

The  point  I  am  trying  to  make — to  emphasize — is  that  Mr. 
Hitchcock's  1910  report  presents  much  valuable  information  for  you 
and  me.  So  you  should  not  allow  its  follies  to  scare  you  off.  For 
instance,  the  Postmaster  General's  fifty  notations  of  "Improvements 
in  Organization  and  Methods."  Why  he  should  stop  at  a  round 
fifty  I  do  not  know.  I  believe  he  could  easily  have  added  twenty  or 
thirty  more  of  kind.  Some  of  these  "improvements"  are  most 
excellent;  some  of  them  are  so  assumedly  conclusive  on  matters 
previously — for  years — in  doubt  and  controversy  as  to  touch  off  the 
risibles  in  any  man  who  has  made  anything  like  a  careful  study  of 
conditions  governing  the  Postoffice  Department.  For  instance,  his 
"Improvement"  numbered  10  reads: 

"The  successful  completion  of  an  inquiry  into  the  cost  of  handling 
and  transporting  mail  of  the  several  classes  and  of  conducting  the 
money  order,  registry  and  special  delivery  services." 

We  can  hope  that  the  aforesaid  "inquiry"  was  so  carefully  and 
comprehensively  conducted  as  to  entitle  it  to  be  classed  as  "success- 
ful" as  Mr.  Hitchcock's  statement  is  assertive.  However,  just  how 
far  we  may  prudently  indulge  such  hope  is  a  matter  for  grave  con- 
sideration. The  Postmaster  General's  Third  Assistant,  James  J. 
Britt,  attempts  to  tell  us  (pp.  328-329,  1910  report),  all  about  it. 
Mr.  Britt  will  be  referred  to  later. 

Again:    Mr.  Hitchcock  in  his  No.  11  "Improvement,"  reports 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  79 

"the  successful  prosecution  of  an  inquiry  into  the  cost  to  the  railroad 
companies  of  carrying  the  mails,  the  result  of  which  will  fonn 
a  reliable  basis  for  fixing  rates  of  pay  for  railroad  mail  transpor- 
tation." 

Now,  if  Mr.  Hitchcock  has  really  and  truly  so  conducted  an 
"inquiry"  as  to  ascertain  a  "reliable  basis"  of  pay  for  the  mail  haulage 
service  rendered  by  the  railroads — "a  reliable  basis"  that  can  be 
built  upon,  acted  upon  and  enforced — if  he  has  done  that,  then  he 
deserves  a  niche  in  the  Hall  of  Fame.  But  here,  again,  I  am 
doubtful.  Did  you  take  Britt's  word  for  it,  Mr.  Hitchcock,  or  did 
you  steer  the  ''inquiry"  yourself?  The  only  point  of  interest  to  us 
of  the  commonalty  involved  in  your  eleventh  improvement  is :  Can 
you,  or  any  other  Postmaster  General,  compel  or  persuade  the 
railroads  to  carry  the  mail  at  a  reasonable  rate  ?  Will  such  rate  be 
based  upon  that  "reliable  basis"  you  say  you  have  ascertained? 

Grant  us  but  that  and  we  shall  ask  no  more  nor  will  you  have 
any  "deficits"  to  worry  about.  I  know  you  explain  quite  fully 
(pp.  18-20),  as  to  how  you  went  about  it,  how  Congress  made  appropri- 
ation for  a  force  of  "temporary  clerks"  to  tabulate  the  information, 
the  data  which  your  "successful"  inquiry  brought  to  the  surface. 
Still,  knowing  something  about  the  demons  peculiarities  of  the  rail- 
ways in  the  past — say,  back  to  the  Wolcott  investigation  (at  this 
moment  I  forget  the  year  when  this  was  made  and  have  neither  the 
time  nor  the  opportunity  to  climb  down  and  look  it  up) — unless  the 
railways  have  had  a  rush  of  honesty  and  conscience  into  their  reports, 
accounts  and  practices,  I  am  gravely  doubtful  as  to  the  dependability 
of  the  data  your  "inquiry"  uncovered.  Of  course,  if  you  went  after 
them,  backed  by  a  court  order  calling  for  a  showdown,  Mr.  Hitchcock, 
you  may  have  arrived  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  the  facts.  Other- 
wise— well,  you  got  about  what  other  inquirers  got — got  what  the 
railways  wanted  you  to  know. 

I  shall  make  no  further  specific  reference  to  the  fifty  improve- 
ments the  Postmaster  General  claims  to  have  covered  into  operative 
effectiveness.  It  is  due,  however,  that  I  say,  in  this  connection,  that 
the  majority  of  those  named  in  the  report  are  sound,  sane  and  service- 
ably  economic.  It  is  also  due  from  me  to  say  that  I  personally  know 
that  Mr.  Hitchcock  has  already  made  a  number  of  them  effectively 
operative  in  his  department  and  to  the  betterment  of  its  service.  My 


80  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

contention  with  the  Postmaster  General  is  chiefly  concerning  three 
points,  viz. : 

First — His  manifest  intent  to  throw  the  burden  of  his  depart- 
mental deficit  upon  a  few  independent  periodicals  which,  by  reason  of 
their  independence,  have  indulged  the  proclivity  or  practice  of 
telling  the  truth  about  corporate,  vested  and  other  favored  interests,  and 
about  corrupt  officials — city,  county,  state,  national,  executive,  legis- 
lative and  juridic. 

Second — His  colossally  unjust  and  unfair  way  of  figuring  his 
"deficit"  against  such  periodicals.  Maybe  it  was  Britt,  Third  Assist- 
ant Postmaster  General,  or  some  other  "pied"  subordinate  who  did 
the  figuring.  I  do  not  know.  However,  in  common  with  other 
citizens,  I  hold  Mr.  Hitchcock  responsible  for  those  figures,  as  we  are 
fully  warranted  in  doing  by  reason  of  his  official  position. 

Third — Mr.  Hitchcock,  it  appears,  in  his  reports  and  letters, 
gives  us  a  lot  of  talk  that  is  twisted,  "pretzel  talk,"  someone  has  aptly 
called  it.  This  "night-crawler"  talk  quite  naturally — legitimately, 
if  not  naturally — leaves  thoughtful  people  to  wonder  what  he  wants, 
what  he  is  after,  what  interest  or  interests  he  is  trying  to  subserve  and 
what  "influences"  have  influenced  him  to  go  after  certain  periodi- 
cals in  so  bald  and  crude  a  way. 

Still,  that  does  not  altogether  fully  express  my  third  objection 
to  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  his  methods.  His  letters  and  special  reports  in 
support  of  the  absurd  claim  that  the  transportation  and  handling  of 
second-class  mail  matter  costs  9.23  cents  per  pound,  a  figure  above  or 
equal  to  that  which  will  carry  gold  or  currency  bills  by  express  for  the 
average  mail  haul,  furnish  valid  grounds  for  doubt  as  to  the  good 
faith  of  his  intent,  to  suspicion  an  ulterior  motive  back  of  his  action 
and  writings.  To  this  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  his  1910  report,  I 
mean  his  own  personally  signed  section  of  it,  is  offensively  bureau- 
cratic. Mr.  Hitchcock,  it  appears  from  his  own  recommendations, 
would  have  his  bureau  or  department  bigger  than  Congress.  He 
wants  powers  and  authority  centered  in  it  which  Congress  should 
not  delegate,  which  Congress  has  no  rightful  powers  nor  authority  to 
delegate. 

Now,  do  not  misapprehend  me.  Maybe  Mr.  Hitchcock  has  not 
done  all  this  on  his  own  initiative.  He  may  have  acted  wholly  on  a 
long-distance  or  a  central  direction  from  the  main  stem.  I  shall, 


POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS.  81 

however,  proceed  to  support  my  accusation  that  Mr.  Hitchcock 
evidences  in  his  1910  report  a  desire — a  tendency,  if  not  a  desire, — to 
make  the  Postmaster  General  not  only  a  censor  of  periodical  literature 
(as  indicated  in  the  wording  of  that  "rider"  amendment  printed  on  a 
previous  page),  but  to  have  delegated  to  him  powers  over  the  mail 
service  which  not  only  contravene  the  basic  principles  of  a  democratic 
form  of  government,  but  which,  also,  tend  to  establish  a  bureaucracy 
that,  if  carried  to  its  full  flower,  will,  necessarily  abrogate  our  form  of 
government  itself. 

Here  let  us  note  Mr.  Hitchcock's  recommended  legislation.  In 
the  report  before  me  he  makes  thirty- six  recommendations.  In  each 
of  these  which  grants  added  powers  or  authority  touching  any  matter, 
the  wording  of  the  suggested  legislation  gives  such  added  powers  and 
authority  to  the  Postmaster  General.  In  certain  minor  matters, 
especially  such  as  relate  only  to  departmental  methods  of  handling  its 
service  accounts,  etc.,  such  grant  of  power  is  entirely  proper.  Among 
Mr.  Hitchcock's  recommendations  are  several  of  such  character,  and, 
so  far  as  I  have  studied  them,  they  appear  sound,  and  consequently 
their  passage  by  Congress  and  their  application  to  the  department 
would,  in  my  judgment,  effect  material  savings  or  betterments  in  the 
service. 

In  a  number  of  other  instances,  however,  Mr.  Hitchcock  asks 
legislation  that  will  grant  him  (or  any  succeeding  head  of  the  federal 
Postoffice  Department),  powers  and  authority  which  should  be 
granted  to  no  bureau  or  departmental  division  of  our  government  service. 
I  mean  that  the  acquirement  of  such  legislative  powers  and  authority 
by  bureaus  (cabinet  service  divisions),  is  inimical  to  the  basic 
principles  of  our  government ;  in  fact,  it  is  a  stealthy  move  to  establish 
in  this  country  the  bureaucratic  form  of  government  which  has  proved  a 
curse  in  every  existing  monarchical  government,  causing  their  peoples 
to  rebel  against  them,  or  constantly  a  condition  of  unrest  under 
the  system — a  condition  which  indicates  either  enforced  submission 
to  governmental  wrongs  and  impositions  or  a  dwarfed  and  submerged 
manhood,  "begging  for  leave  to  live"  and  devoting  most  of  its  thought 
to  a  few  questions,  such  as :  "Why  did  I  arrive?  What  am  I  here  for? 
I  work,  why  does  the  government  take  most  of  my  earnings?  Why 
does  the  government  and  its  bureau  heads  live,  live  in  luxury,  while 
I  and  my  wife  and  children  merely  exist, — barely  subsist  ?  Why  are 


82  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

hundreds  of  millions  taken  every  year  from  people  who  need  it  to  secure 
the  common  comforts  of  life,  and  given,  unearned,  to  those  who  need  it 
not  at  all?  " 

It  would  require  pages  even  to  print  the  inquiries  which  the 
victims  of  bureaucratic  governments  ask  themselves  daily,  ask  them- 
selves daily  so  long  as  they  exist  above  the  level  of  the  clod,  above  the 
level  which  Edward  Markham  so  forcefully  and  eloquently  depicts  in 
his  "Man  with  the  Hoe." 

The  point  I  desire  to  emphasize  is  that  when  the  great  body  of 
people  in  any  country — its  "citizens" — begin  to  ask  themselves  such 
questions,  their  patriotism  begins  to  dry-rot  and  die,  and  when  the 
patriotism  of  a  nation's  people  begins  to  die,  that  nation  is  on  the 
farther  slope  of  its  existence;  it  has  started  on  the  decline,  more  or 
less  sharp,  which  ends  in  rebellion,  dissolution,  extinction.  This  is  the 
uniform  lesson  of  history.  He  who  reads  it  not  so  reads  either  not 
carefully  or  not  comprehendingly. 

To  a  few  of  my  readers  the  foregoing  may  appear  to  be  a  digres- 
sion from  my  subject.  It  is  not  intended  as  such.  It  is  intended  to 
call  the  reader's  attention  to  some  powers  and  authority  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock seeks  in  his  recommended  legislation,  legislation  which  should 
not  be  enacted.  Let  us  look  at  a  few  of  those  recommendations.  If 
space  permitted,  I  would  take  pleasure  in  commenting  on  several 
more  of  them. 

On  page  10  of  his  report,  Mr.  Hitchcock  repeats  a  recommenda- 
tion of  his  1 909  report.  He  repeats  it '  'earnestly. "  He  also  expresses 
the  opinion  that  "as  soon  as  the  postal  savings  system  is  thoroughly 
organized,  the  Postoffice  Department  should  be  prepared  to  establish 
throughout  the  country  a  general  parcels  post."  As  a  "preliminary 
step"  to  such  establishment  of  a  parcels  post  Mr.  Hitchcock  seeks 
authority  from  Congress  to  initiate  a  "limited  parcels  post  service  on 
rural  routes."  On  page  26  of  his  report,  Mr.  Hitchcock  suggests  the 
substantials  of  the  legislation  he  believes  necessary  to  enable  him  to 
establish  his  contemplated  "limited  parcels  post  service  on  rural 
routes,"  as  an  experimental  test. 

As  evidence  that  he  wants  the  power  and  authority  to  make  this 
"experiment"  on  his  own  lines  and  judgment  and  pursuant  of  his  own 
purposes  I  shall  here  quote  the  form  of  his  advised  legislation.  To 
anyone  who  has  made  study  of  parcels  post  service  it  is  needless  to  say 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  83 

that  among  the  civilized  nations  of  the  earth  the  United  States  is  so 
far  in  arrears  in  such  service  as  to  be  generally  recognized  as  an 
international  joke.  It  is  quite  needless  to  say  to  such  that  Mr. 
Hitchcock's  prattle  of  a  "limited"  parcels  post  and  of  trying  it  on 
certain  selected  rural  routes  (with  no  privileges  of  service  beyond  the 
geographical  limits  of  such  routes),  as  an  "experiment,"  is  more  than 
a  mere  joke. 

Informed  people  know  that  any  such  restricted  test  of  a  parcels 
post  service  is  no  test  at  all.  Informed  men  also  know  that  our  Federal 
Postoffice  Department  needs  make  no  "experiments"  on  the  parcels 
post  service,  "limited"  or  other.  Every  other  civilized  nation,  and 
even  provinces  such  as  Canada,  Australia,  New  Zealand  and  others, 
have  made  the  "experiments,"  likewise  the  successful  demonstrations. 
The  experiments  of  these  other  nations  and  provinces,  as  well  as  the 
results  of  them,  are  ours  for  the  asking.  Not  alone  that,  but  informed 
men  know,  and  know  positively,  that  our  Federal  Postoffice  Department 
is  in  possession  of — or  was  in  possession  of — all  this  information  gath- 
ered from  the  experiences  and  trials  and  tests  of  a  parcels  post  service 
in  these  other  countries. 

So,  I  repeat  that  Mr.  Hitchcock's  talk  about  making  an  experi- 
mental test  of  the  general  value  of  a  parcels  post  service  by  putting  it 
in  operation  on  a  few  selected  rural  routes  is  a  joke,  or  else  it  is  an 
evasion  in  order  to  delay  the  installation  of  a  service  which  every  citizen 
wants,  save,  of  course,  the  few  individuals  who  now  own  and  control 
our  railroads,  which  individuals  also  own,  to  a  controlling  extent  at 
least,  our  express  companies. 

But  I  must  quote  Mr.  Hitchcock's  advised  legislation  in  order  to 
show  the  reader  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  desires  that  the  resulting  powers 
and  authority  center  in  him,  or  in  his  successors : 

In  order  that  the  recommendation  on  page  10  of  this  report  for  the  intro- 
duction of  a  limited  parcels  post  service  on  rural  routes  may  be  promptly  carried 
into  effect,  it  is  suggested  that  legislation  substantially  as  follows  be  enacted: 

For  one  year,  beginning  April  1,  1911,  the  Postmaster  General  may,  under 
such  regulations  as  he  shall  prescribe,  authorize  postmasters  and  carriers  on  such 
rural  routes  as  he  shall  select  to  accept  for  delivery  by  carrier  on  the  route  on  which 
mailed  or  on  any  other  route  starting  at  the  postoffice,  branch  postoffice  or  station 
which  is  the  distributing  point  for  that  route,  or  for  delivery  through  any  post- 
office,  branch  postoffice,  or  station  on  any  of  the  said  routes,  at  such  rates  of 
postage  as  he  shall  determine,  packages  not  exceeding  11  pounds  in  weight  con- 


84  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

taining  no  mail  matter  of  the  first  class  and  no  matter  that  is  declared  by  law  to 
be  unmailable,  and  he  shall  report  to  Congress  at  its  next  session  the  results  of 
this  experiment  (Page  26,  1910  Report.) 

The  italics  are  mine.  They  make  all  the  comment  that  is 
necessary  in  proof  of  my  charge  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  seeks  powers  and 
authority  which  should  not  be  delegated  to  any  bureau  head. 

As  a  companion  piece  to  the  foregoing  Mr.  Hitchcock  asks  the 
following  legislation — legislation  which,  if  granted  or  enacted,  must 
look  to  any  man  who  has  given  even  a  cursory  study  to  the  subject  of 
parcels  post  service,  as  merely  a  "stall,"  a  bit  of  dilatory  play  to  delay 
effective  and  efficient  action  to  install  a  serviceable  parcels  post  until 
the  express  company  interests  pull  down  two  or  three  hundred  millions 
more  of  unearned  profits. 

Following  is  the  companion  piece  of  the  last  preceding  quotation. 
The  italics  are  mine  and  make  the  only  comment  that  is  necessary : 

As  suggested  on  page  10  of  this  report,  an  investigation  should  be  authorized 
as  to  the  conditions  under  which  the  transportation  of  merchandise  by  mail  may 
be  wisely  extended.  For  this  purpose  it  is  recommended  that  legislation  sub- 
stantially as  follows  be  enacted : 

The  Postmaster  General  is  hereby  directed  to  ascertain  by  such  investigation 
or  experiment  as  is  found  necessary,  and  to  report  to  Congress  at  its  next  regular 
session,  the  lowest  rates  of  postage  at  which  the  Post  office  Department  can  carry 
by  mail,  without  loss,  parcels  not  exceeding  1 1  pounds  in  weight ;  and  he  is  hereby 
authorized  to  place  in  effect  for  one  year,  beginning  April  1,  1911,  at  such  post- 
offices  as  he  shall  select  for  experimental  purposes,  such  rates  of  postage  on  fourth- 
class  matter  as  he  deems  expedient;  and  the  sum  of  $100,000  is  hereby  appropriated 
to  cover  any  expenses  incurred  hereunder,  including  compensation  of  temporary 
employees  and  rental  of  quarters  in  Washington,  D.  C.  (Page  26,  1910  Report.) 

We  will  here  drop  the  subject  of  parcels  post  for  the  time.  In 
a  later  section  of  this  volume  I  shall  discuss  the  subject — largely  aside 
from  Mr.  Hitchcock's  attempts,  as  has  been  authoritatively  reported 
to  me,  to  delay  if  not  to  block  its  successful  installation. 

I  will  make  a  few  more  quotations  in  evidence  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's 
desire  to  acquire  bureaucratic  powers: 

To  provide  for  a  postal  note  in  accordance  with  the  plan  outlined  on  pages 
10  and  11  it  is  recommended  that  legislation  substantially  as  follows  be  enacted: 

The  Postmaster  General  may  authorize  postmasters  at  such  offices  as  he  shall 
designate,  under  such  regulations  as  he  shall  prescribe,  to  issue  and  pay  money 
orders  of  fixed  denominations  not  exceeding  ten  dollars,  to  be  known  as  postal 
notes. 

SEC.  2    Postal  notes  shall  be  valid  for  six  calendar  months  from  the  last  day 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  85 

of  the  month  of  their  issue,  but  thereafter  may  be  paid  under  such  regulations 
as  the  Postmaster  General  may  prescribe. 

SEC.  3.  Postal  notes  shall  not  be  negotiable  or  transferable  through  indorse- 
ment. 

SEC.  4.  If  a  postal  note  has  been  once  paid,  to  whomsoever  paid,  the  United 
States  shall  not  be  liable  for  any  further  claim  for  the  amount  thereof.  (Page  29, 
1910  Report.) 

Let  us  next  look  at  a  peculiar,  "an  unusual,"  request  for  legisla- 
tion granting  authority  to  the  Postmaster  General  to  do  a  most 
"unusual"  thing,  the  granting  of  salaries  higher  than  $1,200  a  year  to 
clerks  and  carriers,  who  are  paid  under  the  present  law  $600  a  year, 
whenever  the  postmaster  "certifies  to  the  department"  that  "unusual" 
conditions  in  his  community  prevent  him  from  securing  efficient  help. 
The  italics  are  my  own  and  make  comment  unnecessary : 

In  last  year's  report,  attention  was  directed  to  the  desirability  of  authorizing 
the  appointment  of  clerks  and  carriers  at  higher  salaries  than  $600  at  offices  where 
unusual  conditions  prevail.  Congress  added  to  the  appropriation  for  unusual 
conditions  a  proviso  that  may  have  been  intended  to  meet  the  recommendation 
of  the  department,  but  subsequent  experience  has  shown  that  it  fails  to  do  so. 
The  proviso  referred  to  has  effected  so  great  a  reduction  in  the  amount  available 
for  salaries  of  employees  at  offices  where  conditions  are  unusual  that  the  service 
at  a  number  of  such  offices  cannot  be  maintained  after  the  close  of  the  present 
calendar  year,  unless  additional  funds  are  provided  by  Congress.  The  same  law 
placed  a  restriction  on  the  maximum  salary  allowable,  making  it  impossible  for 
the  department  to  meet  satisfactorily  the  unusual  conditions  existing  in  certain 
parts  of  the  country.  In  order  that  the  needed  relief  may  be  afforded  legislation 
substantially  as  follows  should  be  enacted : 

Whenever  a  postmaster  certifies  to  the  department  that,  owing  to  unusual 
conditions  in  his  community,  he  is  unable  to  secure  the  services  of  efficient  em- 
ployees at  the  initial  salary  provided  for  postoffice  clerks  and  letter  carriers,  the 
Postmaster  General  may  authorize,  in  his  discretion,  the  appointment  of  clerks  and 
letter  carriers  for  that  office  at  such  higher  rates  of  compensation  within  the 
grades  prescribed  by  law  as  may  be  necessary  in  order  to  insure  a  proper  conduct 
of  the  postal  business,  and  their  salaries  shall  be  paid  out  of  the  regular  appro- 
priation for  compensation  of  clerks  and  letter  carriers :  Provided,  That  whenever 
such  action  is  necessary  in  order  to  maintain  adequate  service  at  any  postoffice 
where  conditions  are  unusual  the  Postmaster  General  may  authorize  the  appoint- 
ment of  clerks  and  letter  carriers  at  salaries  higher  than  $1,200,  their  salaries  to  be 
paid  out  of  the  appropriation  for  unusual  conditions  at  postoffices.  (Page  30, 
1910  Report.) 

I  wonder  what  our  Posmaster  General  is  after  in  asking  re-enact- 
ment of  legislation  of  this  sort,  legislation  granting  him  censorial 
powers  without  so  much  as  intimating  that  fact.  Maybe  some  of  you 


86  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

organized  labor  men,  or  mercantile  tradesmen  can  tell  me.     I  am 
listening.     So  are  others. 

By  the  act  approved  May  27,  1908,  making  appropriations  for  the  service  of 
the  Postoffice  Department,  it  was  provided: 

That  Section  3893  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States  be  amended 
by  adding  thereto  the  following:  And  the  term  "indecent"  within  the  intendment 
of  this  section  shall  include  matter  of  a  character  tending  to  incite  arson,  murder, 
or  assassination. 

The  enactment  of  this  statute  accomplished  beneficial  results,  and  it  does 
not  appear  that  injustice  or  undue  hardship  resulted  therefrom  to  any  person  or 
interest.  However,  the  provision  quoted  was  not  retained  in  the  penal  code 
adopted  March  4,  1909,  and  became  void  when  the  code  went  into  effect  on  Janu- 
ary 1,  1910.  On  the  assumption  that  the  omission  was  inadvertent,  it  is  recom- 
mended that  the  provision  be  re-enacted.  (Page  37,  1910  Report.) 

Following  is  one  more  reach  by  Mr.  Hitchcock  for  bureaucratic 
power  which  should  not  be  granted : 

By  virtue  of  his  office  the  Postmaster  General  has  the  power  to  conclude 
money-order  conventions  with  foreign  countries  and  to  prescribe  the  fees  to  be 
charged  for  the  issue  of  international  money  orders.  In  like  manner  he  should 
be  empowered  to  determine,  from  time  to  time,  as  conditions  may  warrant,  the 
fees  to  be  charged  for  the  issue  of  domestic  money  orders.  It  is  recommended, 
therefore,  that  Section  2  of  the  act  of  January  27,  1894,  be  repealed,  and  that  as  a 
substitute  therefor  legislation  substantially  as  follows  be  enacted: 

Section  2  of  the  act  of  January  27,  1894,  entitled  "An  act  to  improve  the 
method  of  accounting  in  the  Postoffice  Department  and  for  other  purposes," 
is  hereby  repealed.  A  domestic  money  order  shall  not  be  issued  for  more  than 
one  hundred  dollars,  and  the  fees  to  be  charged  for  the  issue  of  such  orders  shall 
be  determined,  jrom  time  to  time,  by  the  Postmaster  General:  Provided,  however, 
that  the  scale  of  fees  prescribed  in  said  Section  2  shall  remain  in  force  for  three 
months  from  the  last  day  of  the  month  in  which  this  act  is  approved.  (Page  38, 
1910  Report.) 

I  have  probably  quoted  sufficient  to  show  that  Postmaster 
General  Hitchcock  is  reaching  for  power  and  authority  which  should 
not  be  delegated  to  any  bureau  or  cabinet  head.  The  last  statement 
is  made,  of  course,  in  the  confident  belief  that  the  reader  joins  me  in 
the  desire  and  confident  hope  that  the  basic  principles  of  our  govern- 
ment will  be  neither  superseded  nor  abrogated  by  legislative  grants  of 
bureaucratic  power  and  authority,  which  power  and  authority  once 
granted  is  seldom  or  never  recovered  to  a  people  without  sanguinary 
action  on  their  part,  with  all  the  waste  of  effort,  vitality,  money 
and  human  life  usually  a  concomitant  of  such  action. 

There    are    several    more   of    Postmaster   General    Hitchcock's 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  87 

legislative  recommendations  I  would  like  to  quote,  did  space  permit, 
but  there  is  one  other  which  I  will  quote,  because  it  wears  a  sort  of 
humoresque  drapery  when  taken  in  connection  with  that  "rider"  Mr. 
Hitchcock  so  industriously  tried  to  put  through  the  necessary  three- 
ring  stunts  required  in  the  senatorial  circus;  also  when  taken  in 
connection  with  a  little,  not  separately  stitched,  brochure  which  Mr. 
Hitchcock  turns  loose  on  pages  7  and  8  of  his  most  excellent,  though 
ulteriorly  tutoring,  report. 

On  pages  7  and  8  the  Postmaster  General  tells  us,  as  best  he  can, 
under  influenced  and  influencing  conditions,  the  why  and  wherefore 
for  his  attempt  to  load  his  department  deficit  onto  a  few  periodicals 
which  he,  likewise  certain  of  his  "influencers"  possibly,  does  not  like. 
Well,  I  want  my  readers  to  read  this  bit  of  official  effort,  in  a  wrong 
cause.  I  want  them  to  read  it  in  the  raw,  with  no  spring  papering  or 
decorating  on  it. 

As  has  been  my  practice  in  quoting,  I  shall  take  occasion  to 
italicize  a  little.  But  that  will  not  cut  any  four-leaf  clovers  this  early 
in  the  season.  I  italicize  merely  to  call  the  reader's  attention  to  the 
elegant  assertiveness  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's  "style"  and  to  his  planned 
determination  to  "put  it  over"  on  those  pestiferous  periodicals — 
weekly  and  monthly — in  spite  of  constitutional  prohibitions,  Senate 
rules  or  publishers'  opposition. 

Stay !  I  have  another  reason  for  italicizing.  I  want  the  reader 
to  read  those  italicized  phrasings  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's  unstitched 
brochure  a  second  time,  and  to  read  them  more  carefully  the  second 
time  than  he  did  the  first.  If  the  reader  will  kindly  do  this  we  will 
be  better  acquainted,  also  be  mutually  better  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Hitchcock  and  his  dominating  purpose,  whether  ulterior  or  other,  in 
attacking  a  special  class  or  division  of  periodical  publications  in  order 
to  recoup  a  deficit  created  wholly  by  the  rural  delivery  service  and  by 
the  free  (franked  and  penalty),  service  rendered  by  his  department. 
We  will  first  quote  his  little  second-class  brochure  and  follow  it  with 
his  humoresque  legislative  recommendation : 

In  the  last  annual  report  of  the  department  special  attention  was  directed  to 
the  enormous  loss  the  government  sustains  in  the  handling  and  transportation  of 
second-class  mail.  Owing  to  the  rapid  increase  in  the  volume  of  such  mail  the 
loss  is  constantly  growing.  A  remedy  should  be  promptly  applied  by  charging 
more  postage.  In  providing  for  the  higher  rates  it  is  believed  that  a  distinction 
should  be  made  between  advertising  matter  and  what  is  termed  legitimate  reading 


88  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

matter.  Under  present  conditions  an  increase  in  the  postage  on  reading  matter 
is  not  recommended.  Such  an  increase  would  place  a  special  burden  on  a  large 
number  of  second-class  publications,  including  educational  and  religious  period- 
icals, that  derive  little  or  no  profit  from  advertising.  It  is  the  circulation  of  this 
type  of  publications,  which  aid  so  effectively  in  the  educational  and  moral  advance- 
ment of  the  people,  that  the  government  can  best  afford  to  encourage.  For  these 
publications,  and  also  for  any  other  legitimate  reading  matter  in  periodical  form, 
the  department  favors  a  continuation  of  the  present  low  postage  rate  of  1  cent  a 
pound,  and  recommends  that  the  proposed  increase  in  rate  be  applied  only  to 
magazine  advertising  matter.  This  plan  would  be  in  full  accord  with  the  statute 
governing  second-class  mail,  a  law  that  never  justified  the  inclusion  under  the 
second-class  rates  of  the  vast  amounts  of  advertising  now  transported  by  the  govern- 
ment at  a  tremendous  loss. 

Newspapers  are  not  included  in  the  plan  for  a  higher  rate  on  advertising 
matter  because,  being  chiefly  of  local  distribution,  they  do  not  burden  the  mails  to 
any  such  extent  as  the  widely  circulating  magazines. 

Under  the  system  proposed  it  will-  be  possible,  without  increasing  the  ex- 
penditure of  public  funds,  to  utilize  for  the  benefit  of  the  entire  people  that  consider- 
able portion  of  the  postal  revenues  now  expended  to  meet  the  cost  of  a  special 
privilege  enjoyed  by  certain  publishers. 

In  view  of  the  vanishing  postal  deficit  it  is  believed  that  if  the  magazines 
could  be  required  to  pay  what  it  costs  the  government  to  carry  their  advertising 
pages,  the  department's  revenues  would  eventually  grow  large  enough  to  warrant 
I -cent  postage  on  first  class  mail.  Experiments  made  by  the  department  show  that 
the  relative  weights  of  the  advertising  matter  and  the  legitimate  reading  matter 
in  magazines  can  be  readily  determined,  making  it  quite  feasible  to  put  into  suc- 
cessful operation  the  plan  outlined.  Under  that  plan  each  magazine  publisher 
will  be  required  to  certify  to  the  local  postmaster,  in  accordance  with  regulations 
to  be  prescribed  by  the  department,  the  facts  necessary  to  determine  the  proper  post- 
age charges.  The  method  of  procedure  will  be  worked  out  in  such  manner  as  to 
insure  the  dispatching  of  the  mails  as  expeditiously  as  at  present.  (Pages  7  and 
8,  1910  Report.) 

That  sort  of  a  literary  hand-out  may  be  all  right  for  certain  of  our 
citizens  transplanted  from  south  European  environment,  likewise 
from  malnutrition  and  inanition,  by  the  ship  load  to  this  country, 
where  most  of  them  expected  to  find  $1.50  or  $2.00  per  day  growing 
on  vines  or  low  bushes — and  found  it,  in  most  cases,  too. 

But  to  the  home-grown  American  citizen,  "  His  Majesty,"  such 
departmental  literature  is  a  noise  something  like  a  "chuck"  steak 
makes  when  his  hunger  suggests  a  "porter  house"  and  he  is  without  the 
price.  That  is  "His  Majesty"  who  earns  what  he  acquires  and  pays 
for  what  he  gets  and  who  does  not  take  on  an  over-load  of  the  sort  of 
official  talk  Mr.  Hitchcock  ships  him  in  packages  similar  to  the  above. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  89 

Our  home-grown  American  citizens  like  to  have  their  officials  say 
something  that  means  something.  They  do  not  want  any  literary 
ham  and 's  served  to  them  at  four  prices,  they  knowing  whereto 
obtain  them  at  first  cost. 

I  intended  to  make  further  comment  on  the  foregoing — or  gone 
—quotation  from  our  Postmaster  General.  I  shall,  however,  deny 
myself  that  pleasure,  confidently  believing  that  my  italization  of 
certain  of  its  phrasings  and  statements  is  sufficient  comment  for  the 
reader  who  is  following  me  in  this  effort  to  peel  the  varnish  and 
frescoe  from  a  planned  bad  cause. 

The  reader  who  has  followed  me  thus  far  and  has  not  discovered 
that  I  am  writing  against  the  men  who  are,  I  believe,  trying  to  set 
the  brakes  on  legislation  in  order  to  serve  some  "good  interest"  which 
pays  them  a  thousand  or  more  for  each  of  the  twelve  annual  connec- 
tions with  the  cashier  or  "deposit  certificates" — the  reader  who,  I 
say,  has  followed  me  thus  far  and  failed  to  discover  that  fact  should 
quit  right  here.  It  will  not  cure  him  to  read  the  rest  of  what  I  shall 
say.  It  is  to  be  worse  than  what  I  have  previously  said ;  in  fact,  it 
is  going  to  be  some  distance  beyond  "the  limit."  My  advice  to  any 
"frail"  reader,  therefore,  is  to  quit  right  at  this  point  and  give  his 
brain  a  rest  until  he  is  able  to  "come  back"  and  learn  something. 

We  will  now  take  a  look  at  the  humoresque  "throw"  of  our 
Postmaster  General  for  legislative  action.  To  fully  appreciate  it,  the 
reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  Mr.  Hitchcock's  division  of  his  1910 
report  is  of  date,  December  1st,  1910,  and  signed  by  himself.  The 
reader  should  furthermore  bear  in  mind  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  had 
previously  reported — and  more  frequently  asserted — that  the  transpor- 
tation and  handling  of  second-class  mail  cost  the  government  9.23 
cents  per  pound.  The  reader  should,  in  this  instance,  likewise  take 
into  his  judgmental  grinder  the  fact  that  Mr.  Hitchcock,  in  the 
quotation  which  follows,  is  trying  to  put  up  another  hurdle  for  the 
magazines  and  other  periodicals  to  jump;  that  is,  for  such  of  them  as  he 
may  not  like,  to  jump. 

This  recommendation  for  legislative  authority  is  intended  to  cut 
out  the  sample  copy  privilege  of  periodicals,  a  privilege  which  the 
government  should  encourage  rather  than  discourage: 

In  order  to  discontinue  the  privilege  of  mailing  sample  copies  at  the  cent-a- 
pound  rate,  legislation  in  substantially  the  following  form  is  suggested : 


90  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

That  so  much  of  the  act  approved  March  3,  1885  (23  Stat.,  387),  as  relates 
to  publications  of  the  second  class  be  amended  to  read  as  follows: 

"That  hereafter  all  publications  of  the  second-class,  except  as  provided  by 
Section  25  of  the  act  of  March  3,  1879  (20  Stat.,  361),  when  sent  to  subscribers 
by  the  publishers  thereof  and  from  the  known  offices  of  publication,  or  when 
sent  from  news  agents  to  subscribers  thereto  or  to  other  news  agents  for  the 
purpose  of  sale,  shall  be  entitled  to  transmission  through  the  mails  at  one  cent 
a  pound  or  fraction  thereof,  such  postage  to  be  prepaid  as  now  provided  by  law." 

While  I  have  not  the  act  of  1885  at  hand,  I  am  aware  that  it  per- 
mits what  the  Postmaster  General  asks  for,  a  1-cent  per  pound  rate 
for  periodicals  admissible  under  the  acts  of  1879  and  1885.  Mr. 
Hitchcock  asks  for  this  legislation,  a-cent  per  pound  rate,  December 
1st,  1910. 

Before  that  date  and  since  he  has  repeatedly  asserted,  both  in 
print  and  "interview,"  that  second-class  mail  costs  the  government 
9.23  cents  per  pound  to  transport  and  handle.  Do  you  see  the 
equivocating  "ulterior"  in  this  bit  of  recommended  legislation?  If  you 
do  not,  just  go  into  the  back  yard  and  kick  yourself  until  you  awaken 
to  the  fact  and  then  come  back  and  read  Mr.  Britt's  statement,  page 
328  of  the  1910  report.  Britt  is  Third  Assistant  Postmaster  General 
and  knows — well,  he  knows  so  much  that  he  has  to  space-write  in 
order  to  fill  in  about  sixty  pages  of  this  1910  report.  But,  as  I  have 
to  take  notice  of  Mr.  Britt's  furnished  data  later,  I  shall  give  him  no 
more  attention  at  this  point. 

I  believe  that  I  have  either  furnished  the  evidence  to  prove  the 
purpose,  the  ulterior  purpose,  of  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock,  or  of 
his  influences,  to  punish  certain  periodicals,  to  penalize  them  for 
telling  the  truth,  likewise  to  acquire  bureaucratic  powers  to  give  his 
department  the  right  of  censorship  over  our  periodical  literature ; 
not  only  that,  but  to  have  the  successful  introduction  of  a  parcels 
post  dependent  on  conditions  oj  his  own  choosing. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE     PENROSE-OVERSTREET    COMMISSION. 

Next  we  will  again  take  notice  of  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock's 
peculiar  figures.  I  do  not  know  where  he  learned  how  to  do  it,  but  his 
"figerin'  "  has  any  expert  accountant  on  the  mat  taking  the  count.  He 
is  certainly  a  "phenom" — or  his  Third  Assistant,  Mr.  Britt,  or  other 
aid,  is  the  "phenom."  At  any  rate  the  figures  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  his 
third  "assist"  are  wonderfully,  likewise  mysteriously,  worked  into  a 
little  third-grade  problem  which  makes  it  look  like  a  proposition  in 
trigonometry  or  fluxions. 

It's  too  complicated  for  me.  I  never  had  the  advantage  of 
hulling  beans  in  Massacheusetts.  My  cornfield  arithmetic  was  all 
acquired  in  Illinois.  So,  instead  of  permitting  myself  to  become 
enmeshed  in  Mr.  Hitchcock's  figures,  I  shall  resort  to  my  frequently 
used  tactics.  I  shall  quote. 

I  have  before  me  several  analyses  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's  peculiar 
application  of  the  "double-rule-of -three,"  as  the  schoolmaster  used  to 
call  it  down  in  that  little  school  house  at  the  cross  roads  in  District 
6,  Town.  17,  R.  3  E.  The  schoolmaster  used  to  divide  his  time 
between  "  'rithmetic  "  and  lamming.  I  graduated  with  honors  in  the 
latter.  'Rithmetic  never  seemed  to  take  kindly  to  me — save  to  push 
me  along  in  the  lamming  course.  But 

Well,  that  is  sufficient  explanation  to  the  reader  to  give  broad, 
likewise  legitimate,  grounds  for  excusing  me  if  I  dodge,  or  try  to  dodge, 
Mr.  Hitchcock  and  his  Third  Assistant  when  they  get  down  to 
"figerinV 

Candidly  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  why  young  men  of  their  physical 
robustness  and  their  abnormal — yes,  phenomenal — super-excellence 
in  the  matter  of  figuring  things  out,  should  be  frittering  away  their 
time  on  a  loafing  job  with  the  government.  They  ought  to  be  holding 
down  the  chairs  of  Mathematics  and  of  Expert  Accounting  at  Onion 
Run  University,  or  at  some  other  advanced  institution  of  learning. 

But,  as  previously  intimated,  I  am  going  to  quote — am  going  to 
let  someone  else  into  the  maelstrom  of  official  figures. 

I  would  not,  however,  have  the  reader  think  for  a  minute  that  I 

91 


92  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

lacked  the  courage  to  take  the  plunge  myself.  Not  at  all.  I  know 
my  limitations.  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  not  only  a  graduate  of  Harvard, 
but  he  is  a  graduate  of  two  Republican  party  campaign  committees. 
I'd  be  perfectly  willing  to  take  chances  against  Harvard  in  any  game 
of  figuring,  but  when  it  comes  to  sitting  into  the  game  with  a  graduate 
in  two  courses  of  party  campaign  figuring,  one  as  Secretary  and  the 
other  as  Manager  of  the  National  Republican  Committee, — well, 
when  it  comes  to  that,  I  believe  the  reader  will  excuse  me  if  I  push 
some  more  expert  arithmeticians  to  the  front. 

I  will  first  quote  from  the  1907  Joint  Commission  which  investi- 
gated costs  of  second-class  mail  haulage  and  handling,  and  then  I  will 
quote  the  publishers  whose  figures  Senator  Owen  so  pertinently 
presented  in  connection  with  his  remarks  when  speaking  in  opposition 
to  the  rider,  February  25,  1911. 

Being  perfectly  familiar  with  the  proceedings  of  •  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Postoffices  and  Postroads,  he  must,  necessarily,  have 
learned  something  from  the  publishers  who  came  with  the  open,  frank 
— yes,  certified — information  as  to  their  business.  Likewise,  he 
must  have  got  fairly  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  also 
have  learned  something  of  his  promotive  methods  of  figuring. 

I  have,  as  yet,  not  had  the  pleasure — the  honor — of  meeting 
Senator  Owen  or  his  strong,  clean  minded,  clean  acting  colleague, 
Senator  Gore,  but  I  like  them. 

Why? 

Because  they  stand  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  and  fight — fight  for 
what  is  right. 

Now  that  I  have  a  copy  before  me,  I  will  proceed  to  quote  from 
that  report  made  by  the  1907  commission — a  commission  which  dug 
up  more  information  regarding  the  haulage  and  handling  of  second- 
class  mail  matter  than  Mr.  Hitchcock  could  possibly  have  gathered 
in  two  years  as  head  of  the  Postoffice  Department.  The  commission 
was  composed  of  Senators  Penrose,  Carter  and  Clay  and  Congress- 
men Overstreet,  Moon  and  Gardner,  men  far  better  informed  as  to 
federal  postal  affairs  than  is  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock. 

This  commission  was  authorized  by  Congress  to  make  inquiry 
regarding  second-class  mail  matter.  The  reader  may  remember  that 
I  made  reference  to  this  report  on  a  previous  page.  It  presents  much 
information  and  collated  data,  which,  if  Mr.  Hitchcock  had  studiously 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  93 

read  would  have  enabled  him  to  avoid  many  of  the  egregious  blunders 
he  has  made  at  frequent  intervals  during  the  past  two  years  when 
discussing  the  subject.  It  would,  at  any  rate,  have  prudently 
curbed  or  restrained  what  appears  in  Mr.  Hitchcock  to  be  a  native 
or  acquired  tendence  to  volume  or  tonnage  in  talk  when  he  is  speaking 
of  second-class  mail  matters  or  of  the  publication  and  distribution  of 
periodical  literature.  I  do  not  concur  in  a  number  of  the  conclusions 
of  this  commission  as  presented  in  its  report,  but  no  fair-minded  man 
can  read  that  report  without  being  convinced  that  the  commissioners 
delved  into  the  subjects  of  the  classification  of  second-class  mail 
matter  and  the  cost,  to  the  government,  of  its  haulage  and  handling 
most  earnestly;  also  as  thoroughly  and  as  deeply  as  the  lack  of 
organization  in  the  Postojfice  Department  and  its  antiquated,  careless 
and  inaccurate  accounting  left  it  possible  for  anyone  to  go. 

This  commission  began  its  sessions  in  New  York,  October  1,  1906. 
It  sent  advance  notice  to  all  the  organizations  of  publishers  in  the 
country,  to  publishers  not  in  organization,  to  editorial  associations, 
to  boards  of  trade,  mercantile,  commercial  and  trades  associations  and 
to  other  individuals  and  organizations  that  might  be  interested, 
directly  or  indirectly,  in  the  subject  matter  to  be  investigated.  It 
invited  them  to  present  their  views,  complaints,  objections  and  sug- 
gestions in  writing  and  also  to  send  representatives  to  present  their 
views  and  their  grievances,  if  any,  to  the  commission  in  person.  The 
notice  and  invitation  of  the  commission  met  with  a  large  response  from 
the  newspapers  and  other  periodical  publishers,  also  from  other  indi- 
viduals and  associations  interested  in  the  distribution  of  periodical 
literature  by  reason  of  the  commercial,  educational,  religious,  frater- 
nal, scientific  or  other  benefits  such  literature  conveyed  to  the  people. 

At  the  suggestion  of  this  commission,  the  Postoffice  Department 
prepared  and  delivered  to  it  "an  elaborate  statement  with  exhibits" 
to  show  the  "defects  of  the  existing  statute  as  developed  in  actual 
operation."  Also,  the  then  Postmaster  General,  Mr.  George  B. 
Cortelyou,  his  Second  Assistant,  Mr.  W.  S.  Shallenberger,  and  his 
Third  Assistant,  Mr.  Edwin  C.  Madden,  prepared  and  presented  per- 
sonal statements  to  the  commission. 

Now  some  readers  may  wonder  why  I  so  particularly  present  the 
work  done  by  this  commission  for  their  consideration  at  this  point  in 
my  discussion  of  the  general  subject  we  have  under  consideration.  In 


94  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

view  of  my  previous  statement,  to  the  effect  that  I  do  not  agree  with 
some  of  the  conclusions  of  this  "Penrose-Overstreet  Commission" 
some  reader  may  wonder  why  I  make  reference  to  it  at  all.  Well, 
there  are  several  reasons  why  I  do  so  and  do  it  just  at  this  point  in  the 
consideration  of  our  general  subject.  Among  those  reasons  are, 
briefly  stated,  the  following: 

The  inquiry  and  investigation  of  this  commission  were  broad, 
comprehensive  and  thorough. 

Its  report  presents  many  arguments,  recommendations  and  con- 
clusions which  must  appeal  to  any  man  who  is  fairly  well  informed  as 
to  our  federal  postal  service,  as  sound  and  sensible,  however  widely 
he  may  differ  from  the  commission's  conclusions  on  some  other 
points  covered  in  its  report. 

Some  readers  who  have  seen  and  read  the  Penrose-Overstreet 
Commission's  report  may  possibly  have  concluded  that  it  presents  all 
the  information  collected  and  collated  by  the  commission.  The 
reader  so  concluding  would,  almost  necessarily,  think  the  information 
it  presents  insufficient,  both  in  subject  matter  and  in  detail,  to  be  as 
helpful  to  the  Postmaster  General  as,  on  a  previous  page,  I  have 
asserted  the  work  of  this  commission  would  be  to  Mr.  Hitchcock,  or 
would  have  been  had  he  taken  the  trouble  to  consult  the  voluminous 
but  carefully  collated  data  gathered  by  the  1906-7  commission  and  on 
file  in  his  department. 

I  will  here  quote  a  few  lines  from  the  report  of  the  Penrose- 
Overstreet  Commission  in  proof  of  the  fact  that  its  inquiry,  investi- 
gations and  work  provided  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock,  had  he 
but  taken  the  time  to  consult  it,  a  store  of  information  vastly  greater 
than  that  presented  in  its  brief  official  report  of  sixty-three  pages. 

Read  the  following  and  you  will  readily  understand  why  Repre- 
sentative Moon,  on  March  3,  1911,  so  strenuously  objected  to  the 
appointment  of  another  second-class  mail  commission  and  to  spending 
$50,000  more  of  the  people's  money  to  investigate  a  matter 
already  thoroughly  and  comprehensively  investigated  and  to 
collect  and  collate  data  which  is  already  on  file  in  the  Post- 
office  Department.  The  quotation  is  from  page  6  of  the  com- 
mission's report.  The  italics  are  the  writer's: 

In  accordance  with  this  plan,  (outlined  in  immediately  preceding  para- 
graphs), which  operated  to  economize  the  time  as  well  of  the  commission  as  of 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  95 

those  appearing  before  it,  a  great  -volume  of  evidence  was  presented  upon  all  aspects 
of  the  question  from  the  standpoint  both  of  the  postal  service  and  of  the  publications 
involved 


The  testimony  taken  by  the  commission  at  these  hearings,  with  statements 
submitted  in  writing  by  publishers  not  orally  heard,  boards  of  trade,  and  the  like, 
and  other  data  collected  by  the  commission  in  the  course  of  its  investigations, 
together  with  a  complete  digest  of  such  testimony,  are  embodied  in  the  record  of  its 
proceedings  submitted  with  this  report. 

To  the  end  of  getting  our  comer  stakes  properly  located  in 
order  to  run  our  lot-lines  correctly,  I  desire  to  quote  further  from  the 
report  of  this  1906-7  commission.  It  says  some  pertinent  things  and 
says  them  hard.  Before  quoting,  however,  I  desire  to  amplify  a  little 
on  the  character  of  that  commission,  on  the  general  character  of  the 
men  composing  it  as  indicated  in  their  official  and  public  action. 

The  first  point  of  interest  for  us  commoners  to  note  and  appreciate 
is  that  the  photographs  of  none  of  them,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  learn,  have  appeared  in  the  rogues'  gallery.  We  may  therefore 
presume  that  they  are  not  only  intelligent  but  "square"  men — men 
worthy  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's  consideration  and  respect  as  well  as  our 
own. 

The  second  point  worthy  of  note  in  considering  the  personnel  of 
that  commission  is  that  none  of  them,  so  far  as  public  reports  show, 
ever  had  the  advantages  and  opportunities  of  acquiring  that  peculiar 
and  specialized  knowledge  of  federal  postal  affairs,  second-class  or 
other,  which  may  accrue  to  men  from  a  postgraduate  course  in 
national  party  management. 

In  this  connection,  however,  it  may  be  said  that  some  members 
of  the  commission  may  have  come  near  to  such  unusual  opportunities 
as  just  mentioned  for  acquiring  expert  knowledge  of  the  classification, 
transportation  and  handling  of  second-class  mail. 

It  is  also  fitting  for  me  to  say  in  speaking  of  the  gentlemen  com- 
posing that  1906-7  commission  that,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
look  up  their  biographies  in  the  Congressional  Directory  and  elsewhere, 
I  find  nothing  to  indicate  that  any  of  them  ever  tried  to  rob  a  smoke- 
house nor  have  any  of  them  ever  tried  to  put  over  any  piece  of 
"frame-up"  legislation  of  the  nature  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's  "rider," 
printed  on  a  previous  page — legislation  to  hobble,  punish  or  ruin 


96  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

periodicals  honest  enough  and  independent  enough  to  tell  the  truth  to  a 
hundred  millions  of  people. 

The  foregoing  are  some  of  the  reasons — there  are  many  others — 
why  I  think  the  membership  of  that  Penrose-Overstreet  Commission 
of  1906-7  was  possessed  of  an  ability,  character  and  qualification  to 
have  commanded  Mr.  Hitchcock's  careful  consideration  of  the  in- 
formation and  data  the  commission  so  carefully  collated,  after  thor- 
ough investigation,  and  submitted  with  its  official  report. 

"Maybe  he  did  make  a  careful  study  of  that  collated  data?" 

Yes,  maybe  he  did.  But  if  he  did,  then  much  of  the  "student 
discipline"  and  of  the  "study  habit,"  which  graduates  of  Harvard  are 
presumed  to  have  acquired,  must  have  lapsed  in  the  shuffle  of  the 
cards  from  which  recent  years  have  dealt  his  hands.  I  say  this 
respectfully  as  well  as  candidly. 

I  cannot  think  of  it  as  possible  for  a  man  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's 
known  intellectual  gauge  to  read — studiously  read — the  facts  as 
presented  in  the  testimony  before  that  1906-7  commission,  or  so 
read  even  the  63-page  official  report  signed  by  five  of  the  commission- 
ers (Representative  Gardner  being  ill  at  the  time  the  report  was 
submitted) — I  cannot,  I  say,  think  it  possible  for  any  man  of  Mr. 
Hitchcock's  admitted  intelligence  to  read  that  testimony,  collated 
data  and  report,  and  then  proceed  to  talk  or  write  so  wide  of  known 
facts  as  does  he  in  parts  of  his  1909  and  1910  reports  and  in  his  letters 
to  Senator  Penrose,  printed  in  previous  pages. 

It  may  be — yes,  it  is  most  probable — that  the  commission  did  not 
dig  out  all  the  facts.  But  admitting  that,  the  further  admission  must 
be  made  by  any  fair-minded  man  that  most  of  the  facts  it  did  dig 
out  appear  to  be  the  very  facts  which  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock 
ignored — ignored  with  the  self -centered  nonchalance  of  a  "short 
story"  cowboy  when  "busting"  a  broncho  before  an  audience. 

I  shall  now  present  a  few  statements  from  the  report  of  that 
commission,  first  quoting  some  of  the  arguments  presented  by  pub- 
lishers who  appeared  at  its  hearings  personally  or  by  representatives, 
or  who  presented  their  views  in  writing  on  the  various  phases  of 
the  questions  under  consideration.  The  quotations  made,  the  reader 
must  understand  to  be  the  commission's  summary  of  what  the  pub- 
lishers testified  to,  criticised  or  recommended,  and  not  the  full  testi- 
mony or  reports  as  made  by  the  publishers. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  97 

I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  italicize  certain  phrases  and  sentences 
in  these  quotations,  my  purpose  being,  of  course,  to  bring  the  points 
so  italicized  more  particularly  to  the  reader's  notice : 

The  primary  purpose  and  function  of  the  postal  service  being  the  transportation 
of  government  and  letter  mail,  second,  third,  and  fourth  class  matter  are  not 
strictly  chargeable  with  that  proportion  of  the  total  cost  of  the  service  which 
would  be  equivalent  to  their  proportion  of  total  weight  or  volume,  but  these 
secondary  classes,  on  the  contrary,  are  chargeable  only  with  that  fraction  of  total 
cost  which  would  remain  after  deducting  all  expenses  of  installation  and  general 
management  involved  in  the  maintenance  of  a  complete  postal  service  for  govern 
ment  and  letter  mail.  This  method  of  computation  should  be  applied  not  only  in 
respect  of  the  expenses  of  administration  and  handling,  but  especially  in  respect 
of  the  expense  of  railway  mail  transportation,  in  which,  by  reason  of  the  sliding 
scale  of  payment,  the  additional  burden  of  second-class  matter  entailed  but  an 
infinitesimal  additional  cost.  As  an  illustration  of  this  point,  attention  was 
drawn  to  the  statement  of  Dr.  Henry  C.  Adams,  in  his  report  to  the  commission 
of  1898  (p.  404),  that  if  the  volume  of  mail  had  been  decreased  so  that  "the  ton- 
mileage  had  been  169,809,000  instead  of  272,000,000,  the  railway  mail  pay  would 
have  been  practically  the  same. 

In  other  words,  the  argument  is  that  the  true  cost  of  second-class  matter  is 
merely  that  part  of  total  cost  which  would  be  saved  if  second-class  matter  were 
now  eliminated. 

The  foregoing  is  from  page  9  of  the  commission's  report.  On  the 
same  page  of  the  report  it  gives  a  summary  of  another  set  of  reasons 
presented  by  the  publishers  in  their  argument  in  support  of  their 
contention  that  the  mail  rate  on  second-class  matter  should  be  low : 

That  second-class  matter,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  it  is  handled  largely  in 
bulk  in  full  sacks  already  routed  and  separated  and  requires  little  or  no  handling 
by  the  railway  mail  service  or  the  force  at  the  office  of  mailing  and  of  delivery,  is 
in  fact  the  least  expensive  class  of  matter.  With  respect  to  the  proportion  so  routed 
and  separated,  it  was  variously  estimated  by  the  publishers  as  from  70  to  93  per 
cent  of  the  total  weight.  The  assistant  postmaster  at  New  York  fixed  the  per- 
centage for  his  office  at  67  per  cent,  and  the  assistant  postmaster  at  Chicago  esti- 
mated it,  for  the  country  at  large,  to  be  between  50  and  60  per  cent. 

The  representative  of  the  American  Newspaper  Publishers'  Association, 
speaking  for  the  metropolitan  daily  press,  stated  that  less  than  6  per  cent  of  their 
circulation  went  into  the  mail  at  all,  in  many  instances  the  proportion  being  as  low 
as  two-thirds  of  1  per  cent ;  that  the  radius  of  circulation  was  not  more  than  150 
miles;  that  their  mailings  averaged  49  pounds  per  sack,  and  that  93  per  cent  of  all 
second-class  matter  going  out  of  New  York  city,  for  example,  was  already  sorted 
and  routed.  It  was  admitted,  however,  that  while  the  newspapers  avail  them- 
selves of  express  and  railway  transportation  for  matter  sent  out  in  bulk,  single 
copies  sent  to  individual  subscribers  invariably  went  by  mail. 


98  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  appears  to  have  largely  ignored 
the  fact  so  clearly  pointed  out  by  the  publishers  in  1906 — yes,  pointed 
out  as  long  ago  as  1898 — that  second-class  mail  matter  is  a  large 
producer  of  the  revenues  received  by  the  government  from  mail  matter 
of  the  first,  third  and  fourth  classes.  Following  is  a  summary  of 
what  the  publishers  pointed  out  to  the  1906-7  commission: 

There  is  an  immense  indirect  revenue  on  second-class  matter,  due  to  the  fact 
that  second-class  matter  is  itself  the  cause  of  a  great  volume  of  first-class  matter, 
upon  which  the  department  reaps  a  handsome  profit.  While  the  extent  to  which 
first-class  matter  is  thus  indebted  to  second-class  matter  is  necessarily  indetermi- 
nate, attempts  were  made  to  illustrate  it  by  particular  instances.  This  was  done 
by  computing  the  amount  of  first-class  mail  arising,  first,  from  the  direct  corres- 
pondence between  a  publisher  and  the  readers,  and  secondly,  from  correspondence, 
between  the  readers  and  the  advertisers,  resulting  from  the  insertion  of  the  adver- 
tisements. In  the  instances  chosen,  the  first-class  matter  thus  stimulated  ap- 
peared to  be  very  considerable.  Upon  this  basis  it  was  argued  that  any  reduction 
in  the  volume  of  second-class  matter  would  inevitably  be  followed  by  a  correspond- 
ing reduction  in  first-class  matter.  This  would  not  only  deprive  the  Postoffice 
Department  of  the  revenue  from  the  first-class  matter,  but  by  diminishing  the 
total  weight  of  the  mails  would  correspondingly  increase  the  rate  of  mail  pay,  so  that 
the  net  result  of  the  elimination  of  the  socially  valuable  second-class  matter  would 
be  an  actual  increase  in  the  total  cost  of  the  service. 

The  foregoing  is  taken  from  pages  12  and  13  of  the  commission's 
report.  I  desire  to  quote  further  from  page  13 — four  paragraphs — 
and  I  urge  they  be  read  with  care.  The  reader,  too,  should  remember 
that  this  is  not  all  that  the  publishers  said  on  the  points  touched  upon. 
It  is,  however,  no  doubt  a  fair  epitome  or  summary  of  what  they  said 
or  wrote  to  the  commission.  The  reader  should  also  keep  in  mind  the 
fact  that  what  they  said  and  wrote  was  said  and  written  in  1906,  and 
all  they  said  and  wrote  is  on  file  and  easily  accessible  to  Postmaster 
General  Hitchcock: 

Within  an  average  radius  of  500  miles  the  express  companies  and  railways 
stand  willing  to  transport  second-class  matter,  in  bulk  packages  weighing  not  less 
than  5  to  10  pounds  to  a  single  address  or  to  be  called  for,  at  rates  actually  lower 
than  the  second-class  postage  rate.  Inasmuch  as  the  average  haul  of  second-class 
matter  was  reported  by  the  Wolcott  commission  (p.  319),  to  be  but  438  miles, 
it  is  impossible  that  the  government  should  lose  anything  upon  the  transportation 
of  this  class  of  matter,  or  if  in  fact  it  should  be  found  to  be  doing  so,  the  loss  must 
arise  from  an  overpayment  to  the  railways. 

Even  if  it  should  be  found  that  second-class  matter  was  being  carried  at  a 
distinct  loss,  that  loss  would  be  entirely  justified  by  the  educational  value  of  the 
periodical  press.  From  the  beginning  of  the  republic  it  had  been  the  policy  of 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  99 

Congress  to  foster  and  assist  the  dissemination  of  information  and  intelligence 
among  the  people.  Next  to  the  great  public  school  systems  maintained  by  the 
states,  the  newspaper  and  periodical  are  the  chief  agency  of  social  progress  and 
enlightenment.  So  far  from  this  being  a  subsidy  to  the  publisher  the  advantage 
of  the  low  postage  rate  had  been  passed  on  to  the  subscriber  in  the  form  of  a  better 
periodical  and  a  more  efficient  service.  Any  substantial  increase  in  the  postal 
rates,  while  for  the  time  being  bearing  heavily  on  the  publisher,  must  eventually 
fall  upon  the  subscriber,  either  in  the  form  of  an  increased  price  for  his  reading 
matter  or  of  a  deterioration  in  the  quality  of  that  matter. 

The  correct  method  of  dealing  with  the  question  of  cost  is  to  treat  the  service 
as  a  whole,  and  if  the  revenue  for  the  whole  service,  including  allowance  for 
government  mail,  meets  the  cost  of  the  whole  service,  it  is  immaterial  whether  each 
class  of  that  service  pays  its  own  cost,  or  even  whether  the  cost  of  one  class  has  to 
be  made  up  by  a  greater  charge  upon  other  classes. 

With  respect  to  rates,  with  the  exception  of  some  of  the  representatives  of  the 
stockyards  journals,  periodical  publications  were  a  unit  against  any  increase.  It 
was  urged  that  the  periodical  publishing  business  has  been  built  up  on  the  present 
second-class  rates,  and  that  a  change  from  1  cent  a  pound  to  4  cents,  as  suggested 
by  the  Third  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  would  cripple,  if  not  destroy,  every 
existing  periodical.  While  some  would,  perhaps,  be  able  to  adjust  their  business 
to  the  new  rates  and  survive,  the  majority  would  perish,  and  the  loss  would  fall 
heaviest  on  the  smaller  and  weaker  periodicals. 

We  will  next  note  some  things  which  that  1906-7  commission  said 
on  its  own  account  or  quotes  some  one  in  whose  opinion  they  con- 
curred or  did  not,  as  the  case  might  be. 

Some  pages  back,  I  told  the  reader,  in  effect,  that  while  this 
commission's  official  report  was  a  good  one,  presenting  some  valuable 
suggestions,  I  did  not  agree  with  certain  of  its  recommendations  and 
conclusions.  Now,  any  adverse  criticisms  I  intend  to  make  concern- 
ing that  report  are,  I  think,  best  made  right  here,  after  which  I  will 
quote  a  few  paragraphs  from  it  which  I  believe  highly  commendable. 
There  are  many  suggestions  and  recommendations  that  I  believe 
would  be  of  great  value  did  the  department  but  act  upon  them,  and 
the  vast  amount  of  data  the  commission  collected  and  made  a  digest 
of  would,  had  he  but  looked  into  it  carefully,  most  certainly  have 
persuaded  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  to  speak  and  write  less 
loosely  on  the  subjects  of  second-class  mail  rates  and  periodical 
publication  and  distribution,  induced  him  to  talk  in  a  way  that  would 
not  leave  the  impression  with  studious,  thoughtful  auditors  and 
readers  that  he  got  his  opinions  at  a  bargain  sale  during  its  rush  hours. 

I  shall  comment  adversely  on  but  a  few  points  of  the  com- 


100  POSTAL    RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS. 

mission's  report.  Three  of  its  members  (Senators  Carter  and  Clay 
and  Representative  Overstreet)  have  passed — not  off  the  edge  of  life 
but  to  official  retirement,  or,  maybe,  to  the  political  morgue.  They,  in 
time,  may  be  able  to  "come  back."  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  has  heard 
varied  opinions — some  of  them  decidedly  variegated,  too — anent  the 
probability  of  those  three  gentlemen  coming  back.  Personally  I  am 
not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  their  official  service  careers  to  justify 
the  expression  of  an  opinion  of  them.  If,  while  in  office,  they  directed 
their  efforts  and  activities  to  a  service  of  their  constituents  and  the 
interests  of  the  people  in  general,  let  us  hope  they  may  "come  back." 
On  the  other  hand,  if  while  in  office  they  were  but  working  models 
of  the  so-called  "practical"  politician,  then,  as  a  matter  both  of  self- 
respect  and  of  duty,  we  must  hope  they  stay  in  the  morgue. 

"The  'practical'  politician  is  the  working  politician." 

Well,  yes,  that  may  be.  But  most  of  those  within  range  of  my 
vision  from  the  ladder  top  appear  to  be  devoting  their  most  active 
and  strenuous  industry  to  "working"  the  people. 

No,  I  do  not  like  that  type  of  human  animal  popularly  designated 
as  a  "practical"  politician.  Especially  do  I  not  like  him  in  public 
office — executive,  legislative  or  judicial — elective  or  appointive,  and  I 
have  run  the  lines  on  a  good  many  of  them.  Most  of  them  when  in 
positions  of  official  power  and  opportunity  act  as  if  their  consciences 
had  been  handed  down  in  original  packages  direct  from  their  jungle 
ancestors.  At  any  rate  most  of  those  in  positions  of  official  power  and 
authority  seem  to  follow  one  working  rule,  and  follow  it,  too,  both 
industriously  and  consistently. 

To  conceal  one  theft,  steal  more. 

The  typical  "practical"  politician,  when  holding  down  a  public 
office,  usually  holds-up  the  people.  They  pose  and  talk  as  courageous 
patriots  and  large  thinkers.  Under  close  scrutiny,  however,  most  of 
them  will  show  up  or  show  down  merely  as  discreet  private  or  personal 
interest  liars. 

But  I  have  permitted  my  field  glass  to  ramble  from  the  specific 
to  the  general.  Whether  the  three  passed  members  of  the  1906-7 
commission  are  politically  dead  or  taking  only  a  temporarily  enforced 
rest,  the  situation  is  one  which  suggests  the  propriety  of  that  subdued 
and  respectful  tone  one  is  expected  to  use  when  standing  by  as  a 
friend  is  lowered  to  an  enforced  rest. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  ,  101 

I  shall  now  offer  my  strictures  of  a  few  recommendations  made  by 
the  1906-7  commission  and  of  some  of  the  arguments  the  commission's 
report  offers  to  their  support. 

The  first  objection  I  find  to  the  report  of  this  Penrose-Overstreet 
Commission  is  that  several  of  its  paragraphs  indicate  that  the  com- 
mission appears  to  have  been  afflicted  with  Mr.  Hitchcock's  current 
ailment — an  ingrown  idea  that  some  action,  legislative  or  other, 
must  be  taken  in  order  to  curb  the  circulation  growth  and  keep 
down  the  piece  or  copy-weight  of  periodicals.  To  The  Man  on  the 
Ladder  such  an  idea  is  not  only  faulty  to  the  point  of  foolishness  but 
it  violates  long  established  and  successfully  applied  business  practices 
in  the  transportation  and  handling  of  goods  or  commodities,  whatever 
their  character.  The  idea,  it  would  appear,  is  based  upon  an  oft- 
repeated  but  nevertheless  false  statement  of  fact,  to  the  effect  that 
the  government  is  losing  money  in  the  carriage  and  handling  of  second- 
class  mail  at  the  cent-a-pound  rate. 

The  falsity  of  that  statement  I  shall  conclusively  prove  to  the 
reader  later,  if  he  will  be  so  indulgent  as  to  follow  me.  Here  I  shall 
say  only  this :  If  the  government  has  ever  lost  a  cent  in  rail  or  other 
haulage  and  handling  of  second-class  mail  matter,  such  loss  has  been 
wholly  the  result  of  excessive  payments  to  railroads,  Star  Route  and 
ocean  carriers,  to  political  rather  than  business  management  and  to 
permitted  raiding  of  the  postal  revenues  in  various  ways — from  over- 
manning the  official  and  service  force  to  downright  thievery. 

I  have  adverted  on  a  previous  page  to  the  stealings  of  the  Machen- 
Beavers  gang,  exposed  by  the  investigation  of  Joseph  L.  Bristow,  and 
a  stench  still  exhales  from  the  Star  Route  lootings  exposed  some  years 
previous.  In  the  Star  Route  case,  the  waste — a  more  fitting  word  is 
thievery — the  stealing  was  largely  effected  through  the  medium  of 
"joker"-loaded  or  unnecessary  contracts,  the  contracts  running  to 
the  advantage  of  some  thief  who  "stood  in"  with  the  party  in  power. 

Nor  has  all  the  Star  Route  grafting  and  stealing  been  stopped, 
though  both  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  and  his  recent 
predecessor,  Mr.  George  B.  Cortelyou,  deserve  great  praise  for  having 
eliminated  much  of  it,  and  Mr.  Hitchcock's  active,  continued  efforts 
to  further  clean  out  that  Augean  stable  must  command  the  hearty 
approval  of  every  honest  citizen.  But,  as  just  stated,  some  of  the 
original  graft  and  steal  still  lingers. 


102  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Last  year  I  personally  investigated  one  Star  Route.  It  was  a 
twenty-mile  drive  (round  trip).  The  contractor  was  receiving 
$600  or  more  a  year  for  the  service.  What  he  paid  the  villager  to 
cover  the  route  with  his  patriarchal  team  I  do  not  know.  The 
villager,  however,  picked  up  a  little  on  the  side  by  hauling  over  his 
drive  local  parcels,  some  merchandise  and  an  occasional  passenger. 
I  watched  his  mail  deliveries  to  the  village  office  for  ten  days.  On 
no  day  did  the  revenue  to  the  government  exceed  sixty  cents,  and  on 
seven  of  the  ten  days  it  was  below  twenty  cents.  One  day  it  was  but 
ten  cents. 

In  this  connection  it  should  also  be  mentioned  that  the  village 
which  that  Star  Route  was  presumed  to  serve  was  on  a  regular  rural 
route  and  received  fully  95%  of  its  mail  by  special  carrier  service 
connecting  with  a  trunk  line  station  only  six  miles  away. 

But  to  return  to  my  objection  to  the  manifest  efforts  of  the  Post- 
master General  and  of  recommendations  in  the  Penrose-Overstreet 
report  to  adopt  methods  or  secure  legislation  to  restrain  increase  in 
both  the  circulation  and  the  copy-weight  of  periodicals.  Of  course 
if  the  government  really  sustains  a  loss  on  the  carriage  and  handling 
of  second-class  matter,  the  loss  would  be  greater  on  160  tons  than  on 
80  tons.  I ,  however,  contend,  and  shall  later  prove,  that — barring 
waste,  pay-roll  loafing  and  stealage — the  government  now  transports 
and  handles  second-class  matter  at  a  profit. 

Postmaster  General  Hitchcock,  so  far  as  I  have  found  time  to 
read  him,  has  made  no  particular  effort  to  restrict  or  limit  the  piece 
or  copy- weight  of  periodicals.  He  was,  seemingly  at  least,  so  occupied 
in  his  efforts  to  "get"  a  few  periodicals  through  the  means  of  that 
unconstitutional  "rider"  of  his  that  he  had  little  or  no  time  for  any- 
thing else.  But  the  1906-7  commission  boldly  advocated  a  penalizing 
of  periodical  weight  for  copies  mailed  to  piece,  or  individual,  ad- 
dresses. 

A  table  of  graduated  increases  is  given  and  some  very  peculiar 
argument,  to  put  it  mildly,  is  presented  to  support  the  recommended 
scale,  or  system,  of  weight  penalization.  Following  I  quote  from 
pages  28-29  of  the  commission's  report.  The  italics  are  mine : 

The  rate  then  for  copy  service  would  be  one-eighth  of  a  cent  per  copy  not  to 
exceed  2  ounces,  one-quarter  cent  per  copy  not  to  exceed  4  ounces,  and  one-half 


POSTAL   RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS.  103 

cent  for  each  additional  4  ounces  or  fraction  thereof  to  be  prepaid  in  money  as 

second-class  postage  is  now  paid.     Tabulated,  it  would  appear  thus: 

Not  exceeding —  Cents, 

2  ounces i 

4  ounces i 

8  ounces | 

12  ounces It 

16  ounces If 

20  ounces 2J 

24  ounces 2J 

28  ounces 3J 

Etc.,  etc. 

The  net  result  calculated  by  the  pound  will  be,  upon  the  periodicals  above 
the  average  weight  of  4  ounces  and  not  exceeding  a  pound,  a  change  from  1  to 
about  If  cents  per  pound.  For  heavier  periodicals  the  rate  would  average  1$  cents 
per  pound  for  those  weighing  2  pounds,  and  increasing  by  an  infinitesimal  fraction 
with  the  proportion  of  weight  above  4  ounces  but  never  reaching,  no  matter  how 
heavy  the  periodical  may  grow,  the  limit  of  2  cents  per  pound. 

While  the  actual  increase  of  rate  upon  the  normal  periodical,  especially  in 
view  of  the  publisher's  right  at  all  times  to  send  it  by  bulk  at  a  cent  a  pound,  would 
be  so  small  as  not  to  upset  his  business,  there  would  be  two  advantages  to  the 
postal  revenue,  one  at  each  end  of  the  line. 

(1)  The  making  of  a  definite  minimum  charge  for  the  handling  of  the 
individual  piece.  (2)  Increase  of  revenue  as  the  periodical  grows  heavier, 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  initial  rate  of  one-quarter  cent  for  4  ounces  is  less  than 
the  incremental  rate. 

This  system  of  payment  by  the  individual  piece  with  a  minimum  limit  of 
weight  and  an  increased  rate  for  each  increment  of  weight  is  common  to  the  postal 
systems  of  the  entire  world  with  the  exceptions  of  Canada  and  the  United  States. 
The  only  difference  is  that  in  the  present  project  the  incremental  rate  is  higher 
than  the  initial  rate. 

Although  this  graduated  scale  would  appear  to  be  more  favorable  to  the 
smaller  periodical  than  to  the  large  one,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  period- 
ical weighing  less  than  1  ounce  and  of  necessity  paying  the  initial  rate  of  one- 
quarter  cent  would  be  paying  a  rate  (2  cents  per  pound),  slightly  greater  than  the 
large  periodical.  This  increase  upon  the  periodical  weighing  less  than  2  ounces 
finds  ample  justification  in  the  obvious  fact  that  the  expense  of  handling  second 
class  matter  is  not  to  be  measured  simply  by  gross  weight.  On  the  contrary,  as 
was  pointed  out  by  the  representatives  of  the  publishers  in  comparing  the  cost  of 
handling  second-class  with  that  of  first-class  mail,  such  expense  is  to  be  measured 
by  the  number  of  pieces  handled  and  frequency  of  handling.  A  pound  of  period- 
icals which  is  made  up  of  10  or  12  or,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  80  or  jffl  separate 
pieces,  each  one  of  which  requires  a  separate  course  of  handling  and  delivery,  can  not 
with  justice  be  treated  as  the  equivalent  of  a  pound  of  matter  which  requires  but  two, 
or,  at  most,  four  courses  of  handling  and  delivery. 


104  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

This  increase  would  be  offset,  moreover,  for  the  normal  periodical  weighing 
less  than  2  ounces,  the  country  weekly,  by  the  retention  of  the  free  county 
privilege. 

The  foregoing  is  substantially  the  commission's  whole  argument, 
save  a  little  more  talk  about  "normal"  periodicals,  ''normal"  weeklies, 
and  a  statement  to  the  effect  that  all  countries,  other  than  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  increase  the  piece,  or  copy,  postage  rate  as  the 
weight  of  the  periodical  increases — that  is,  these  other  countries  do 
not  give  a  flat  pound,  gram  or  other  unit  of  weight  rate. 

Now,  I  shall  briefly  state  my  objections  to  some  points  in  the 
above  quotation — those  points  I  have  italicized. 

The  reader,  however,  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  scale  of  increase 
in  mail  rates  above  reprinted  applies  only  to  single  copies — to  copies 
mailed  to  individual  addresses.  For  copies  mailed  in  bulk,  in  packages 
weighing  not  less  than  ten  pounds,  to  some  agent  of  the  publisher  or 
other  individual,  to  be  taken  up  by  the  agent  or  individual  at  train 
or  at  central  postoffice,  the  commission  recommended  the  cent-a- 
pound  rate. 

In  adverse  criticism  of  the  commission's  argument  for  penalizing 
weight,  because  all  foreign  countries  do  so,  I  need  but  say : 

1.  There    are    more    high-class    newspapers — papers    which, 
necessarily,  have  weight — published  in  this  country  than  is  published 
in  all  the  rest  of  the  world. 

2.  There  are  four  times  as  many  of  what  the  1906-7  commission 
— also  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock — would  class  as  "periodicals" 
published  in  this  country  as  are  published  in  all  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Sounds  "loud,"  does  it?  Well,  look  into  the  matter.  Maybe 
I  am  mistaken.  If  so,  it  is  a  mistake  made  after  thirty  years  of  study 
of  the  conditions  controlling  in  my  country — in  your  country — 
and  of  the  prices  paid  in  other  countries  for  efficient,  satisfactory 
service. 

3.  Those  "other  countries" — the  stronger  ones,  at  any  rate — 
either  own  or  absolutely  control  the  railroads  which  transport  their 
mails.     In  some  of  them,  rail  transportation  of  mails — also  of  govern- 
ment officials,  the  service  personnel  of  the  army  and  the  navy,  and  of 
other  government  "weight" — are  carried  free  of  charge. 

4.  Those   "other  countries,"   of   which   so   much  is   said  and 
written  ostensibly  for  our  enlightenment,  have  gone  through  the  mill 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  105 

— their  peoples  have  been  ground  fine  in  mills  of  sophistry  and  special 
pleadings,  to  which,  for  fifty  years,  we  have  been  carrying  our  grists. 

5.  Those  "other  countries"  are  making  their  mail  service  a 
source  of  governmental  revenue. 

The  people  of  this  country,  today,  no  more  expect  a  revenue 
from  the  government's  postal  service  than  they  expect  it  from  the 
War,  the  Navy,  the  Interior,  the  Judicial  or  other  service  department. 

The  people  want  service,  not  revenues,  from  any  federal  service 
department. 

And  you  gentlemen  who  vote  away  the  people's  money  for  serv- 
ices not  rendered — which  you  know  will  not  be  rendered  when  you 
vote  to  "burn"  the  money — will,  before  those  independent  period- 
icals are  through  with  the  recent  sand-bagging  attempt  to  censor 
or  control  their  published  thought — you  will  learn,  I  mean  to  say,  that 
people  want  service  not  revenues;  that  they  want  "duty,"  as  an 
engineer  would  name  it,  not  a  coached  prattle  about  B.  T.  U.  or  other 
legislative  and  official  thermics. 

Now,  let  us  look  back  at  that  quotation — at  some  of  the  points 
in  it  I  have  italicized. 

First  paragraph  quoted :  Aside  from  small  country  dailies — now 
carried  by  mail  to  addresses  inside  the  county  of  publication  free — 
and  fraternal  papers,  Sunday  School  sheets  and  similar  publications, 
there  are  few  periodicals  published  in  this  country  which  weigh  two 
ounces  or  less. 

First  paragraph  following  tabulation:  "The  rate  would  average 
1 J  cents  per  pound"  for  periodicals  weighing  two  pounds. 

A  glance  at  the  table  shows  that  the  piece  or  copy  rate  on  a 
periodical  weighing  28  ounces  is  given  as  3J  cents.  A  periodical 
weighing  two  pounds,  or  32  ounces,  would  be  charged  a  half  cent  more, 
or  3 1  cents  for  mail  carriage  and  delivery,  instead  of  2  cents  as  now. 

Second  paragraph  following  the  table,  also  in  last  paragraph 
quoted:  "Normal"  periodicals. 

What  is  a  "normal"  periodical?  Are  the  4  or  8  page  weeklies 
published  in  the  back  counties  and  the  small  religious,  college,  Sunday 
school  and  fraternal  sheets  that  weigh  two  ounces  or  less  "normal" 
periodicals?  Are  the  dailies  of  our  large  cities,  weighing  from  four 
to  twelve  ounces,  "normal"  periodicals?  Is  the  Saturday  Evening 
Post,  weighing  from  ten  to  twenty  ounces  a  "normal"  periodical? 


106 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 


Are  any  of  the  periodicals  in  the  following  descriptive  list  "nor- 
mal?" 

The  newspaper  s\nd  other  periodicals  named  in  the  following 
tabulation  are  those  I  could  find  within  convenient,  likewise  hur- 
ried, reach.  I  tried  to  get  them  as  near  concurrent  dates  as  I 
could.  The  tabulation  will  show  the  reader  the  proportion  of 
advertising  to  body  matter,  printed  in  the  different  periodicals  on 
the  dates  named. 

Readers  particularly  interested  in  the  data  presented  in  the 
tabulation  should,  however,  understand  that  for  the  newspapers 
listed,  no  account  was  taken  of  the  "  write-up  "  or  "  promotion  " 
advertising  printed  as  reading  matter.  Some  newspapers,  at  cer- 
tain times,  carry  a  considerable  amount  of  such  paid  matter  while 
the  standard  monthly  and  weekly  periodicals  carry  little  or  none 
of  it  at  any  time : 


NAME  OF 
PERIODICAL. 

Date 
of 
Issue. 

aNo  of 
Pages 
or 
Columns. 

ftReading 
Matter, 
Pages  or 
Columns. 

cAdvertis- 
ing  Matter 
Pages  or 
Columns. 

Gross 
Weight 
of  the 
Periodical. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

CHICAGO. 
The  Examiner. 
Sunday  Edition.  . 
Daily  Edition.  .  . 
Record  Herald 
Sunday  Edition  . 
(^Supplement 

6-11-11 
6-8-11 

6-11-11 

392  Cols. 
126       " 

448       " 
20  pp 

171*  Cols. 
77§     " 

286*     " 
14  PP 

220$  Cols. 

48|     " 

161*     " 
6    pp 

15  ozs. 
4*  " 

18     " 

Daily  Edition  
The  Tribune. 
Sunday  Edition  . 
Supplement 

6-8-11 
6-11-11 

126  Cols 

490      " 

30  DD 

771  Cols. 

212$     " 
221  PP 

48*  Cols. 

277f     " 
71  PP 

5     " 
20     " 

Daily  Edition.  .  . 
Inter  Ocean. 
Sunday  Edition   . 
Daily  Edition  
The  American. 
Daily  News  

6-8-11 

6-11-11 
6-8-11 
6-8-11 
6-8-11 

168  Cols. 

316      " 
84       " 
126      " 
210      " 

86*  Cols. 

242!    " 
59*     " 
65       " 

87       " 

81$  Cols. 

73J     " 
24*     " 
61       " 
123      " 

6*  " 

12     " 

4     " 
4*  " 
7*  " 

Daily  Journal  
The  Evening  Post  .  . 

6-8-11 
6-8-11 

112       " 
84       " 

63*    " 
64$     " 

48§     " 
19*     " 

4*  " 
3f  " 

POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 


107 


NAME  OF 
PERIODICAL. 

Date 
of 
Issue 

aNo  of 
Pages 
or 
Columns. 

^Reading 
Matter, 
Pages  or 
Columns. 

c  Advertis- 
ing Matter, 
Pages  or 
Columns. 

Gross 
Weight 
of  the 
Periodical. 

BOSTON 

The  Globe. 

Sunday  Edition  .  .  . 

6-11-11 

720  Cols, 

399  Cols. 

321  Cols. 

25  Ozs 

Supplement 

28  pp. 

20$  pp. 

7$  pp. 

Daily  Edition.  .  .  . 

6-12-11 

128  Cols. 

102$  Cols. 

25$  Cols. 

4     " 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

The  American. 

Sunday  Eidtion  . 

6-11-11 

392       " 

221*      " 

1705     " 

12$  " 

The  Herald. 

Sunday  Edition  . 

6-11-11 

728      " 

373      " 

355      " 

23$  " 

Daily  Edition.  .  .  . 

6-12-11 

114       " 

73*     " 

405      " 

4     " 

PHILADELPHIA. 

Tlie  Enquirer. 

Sunday  Edition  . 

6-11-11 

576       " 

339$     " 

236$    " 

18$  " 

Daily  Edition.  .  . 

6-12-11 

128      " 

65^      " 

62$     " 

4     " 

PlTTSBURG. 

The  Gazette  Times. 

Sunday  Edition  . 

6-11-11 

504       " 

358|     " 

145$     " 

15|  " 

Supplement 

20  E>D 

15*  on 

4*  DD 

Daily  Edition.  .  .  . 

6-12-11 

"**  rf' 

84    Cols. 

***a  Hf  • 
56  Cols. 

^2  YV* 

29  Cols. 

3     " 

CLEVELAND. 

The  Plain  Dealer. 

Sunday  Edition  . 

6-11-11 

512       " 

292      " 

230      " 

16$  '« 

Daily  Edition.  .  .  . 

6-13-11 

112       " 

71 

41       " 

3}  " 

CINCINNATI. 

The  Enquirer. 

Daily  Edition.  .  .  . 

6-13-11 

112      " 

66$      " 

45j      " 

4    " 

LOUISVILLE. 

The  Courier  Journal 

Daily  Edition  

6-10-11 

112      " 

91|     " 

20$     " 

4     " 

ST.  Louis. 

Post  Dispatch. 

Sunday  Edition  . 

.6-11-11 

400      " 

261$     " 

138$    " 

12    " 

Globe  Democrat. 

Daily  Edition.  .  .  . 

6-13-11 

112       " 

67f     " 

44$     " 

4    " 

KANSAS  CITY. 

The  Star. 

Daily  Edition..  .  . 

6-15-11 

112       " 

61$     " 

50f    " 

4     " 

SAN  FRANCISCO. 

The  Chronicle. 

Daily  Edition.  .  .  . 

6-10-11 

126       " 

86*      " 

39J     " 

4$" 

108 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 


NAME  OF 
PERIODICAL. 

Date 
of 
Issue. 

oNo   of 
Pages 
or 
Columns. 

^Reading 
Matter, 
Pages    or 
Columns. 

cAdvertis- 
ing  Matter, 
Pages    or 
Columns. 

Gross 
Weight 
of  the 
Periodical. 

Los  ANGELES. 

The  Times. 

Sunday  Edition  . 

6-4-11 

1170  Cols. 

586£  Cols. 

583$  Cols. 

35i  Ozs. 

Supplement 

30  oo 

24i  on 

5i  rm 

MONTHLY  AND 

u\j  pp. 

^^2    Ft*' 

r*  FF* 

WEEKLY 

PERIODICALS. 

Everybody's  Mag  .  .  . 

4-1911 

316  pp. 

146  pp. 

170  pp. 

22  ozs. 

"               " 

7-1911 

284     " 

140     " 

144     " 

20     " 

Cosmopolitan  " 

3-1911 

266     " 

144*  " 

120f  " 

18    " 

"            " 

7-1911 

288     " 

146J  " 

141$  " 

17     " 

McClure's        "     .. 

6-1911 

244     " 

113$  " 

130$  " 

12    " 

American          " 

6-1911 

224     " 

132J  " 

91$  " 

15     " 

Pearson's 

6-1911 

206     " 

143     " 

63     " 

16i  " 

Sat.  Evening  Post  .  . 

5-20-11 

68     " 

32*  " 

35$  " 

9     " 

tt           K           <> 

6-3-11 

80     " 

33i  " 

46f  " 

10     " 

Ladies'  Home  Jour'l. 

6-19-11 

84     " 

52$  " 

3H  " 

16     " 

The  Literary  Digest 

5-13-11 

72     " 

37*  " 

34^    " 

8     " 

Inland  Printer  

3-1911 

176     " 

68£  " 

87|  " 

24     " 

Publishers'  Weekly 

3-18-11 

136     " 

62J  " 

73§  " 

7i  " 

Review  of  Reviews..  . 

6-1911 

268     " 

129     " 

139     " 

17    " 

Scribner's  Magazine. 

6-1911 

250     " 

134     " 

116     " 

16    " 

Harpers9 

6-1911 

284     " 

164     " 

120     " 

21     " 

Popular 

4-10-11 

286     " 

226     " 

42    " 

14     " 

The  Argosy  

5-19-11 

246     " 

194     " 

52     " 

12    " 

The  All  Story  

4-19-11- 

228     " 

194     " 

34     " 

11     " 

The  New  Magazine  . 

5-19-11 

200     " 

192     " 

8     " 

10     " 

a  Covers  are  included  in  the  total  for  pages  given. 

6  One  cover  page  included  in  count  for  periodicals  carrying  cover  with  no 
advertising  matter  on  title  page  of  same. 

c  Three  pages  of  cover  are  counted  as  advertising. 

d  The  weight  of  supplements  to  Sunday  Editions  of  newspapers  (when 
mentioned  as  supplements  in  list),  is  included  in  the  gross  weight  of  the  issue  as 
given. 

Next  to  last  paragraph :  Note  the  statement  that  "the  periodical 
weighing  less  than  one  ounce"  must  "of  necessity"  pay  the  "initial 
rate  of  one-quarter  cent"  or  "two  cents  per  pound." 

The  initial  rate  as  given  in  the  table  is  but  one-eighth  of  a  cent. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  109 

That  would  make  a  per  copy  mail  rate  of  two  cents  per  pound,  whereas 

»an  initial  rate  of  one-quarter  cent  per  copy  would  make  four-page 
sheets  and  leaflets  "normal"  periodicals  weighing  less  than  one  ounce 
pay  at  a  rate  of  four  cents  per  pound. 

Next,  note  the  crossed  argument  in  the  paragraph  just  referred 
to.  The  commission  seems  to  accept  the  argument  made  by  the 
publishers — that  it  cost  less  to  handle  a  pound  of  mail  made  up  of  but 
one  to  four  pieces  than  it  costs  to  handle  a  pound  made  up  of  from 
ten  to  fifty  pieces.  That  is  a  fact  which  admits  of  no  controversy,  is 
it  not? 

Then  why  did  this  commission  advise  the  adoption  of  a  flat  rate 
of  increase  of  two  cents  a  pound  (one -half  cent  for  each  four  ounces),  as 
the  mail  rate  on  periodicals  weighing  more  than  four  ounces. 

If  the  argument  of  the  paragraph  just  cited  is  sound — and  it  cer- 
tainly is  sound — a  just  graduation  of  the  mail  charge  for  the  carriage 
and  piece  handling  of  the  heavier  periodicals  should  scale  downwards 
and  not  continue  a  flat  rate,  especially  not  continue  at  a  flat  rate  on 
increase  in  weight  that  is  greatly  excessive,  as  two  cents  a  pound 
certainly  is. 

I  shall  speak  further  of  periodical  weights  later  in  connection 
with  railway  mail  pay  and  car  rentals.  The  report  of  this  1906-7 
commission  in  various  other  paragraphs  manifests  a  clear  intent  to 
restrict  and,  if  possible,  to  curtail  the  expansion  of  second-class  mail 
matter,  not  only  by  curbing  the  enlargement  of  periodicals  in  size 
by  increasing  the  second-class  rate  and  by  penalizing  added 
weight,  but  by  putting  restrictions  upon  the  periodical  publisher  which 
must  necessarily  make  it  more  difficult  for  him  to  increase  his  circula- 
tion. These  restrictions,  so  far  as  yet  expressed,  apply  to  the 
publisher's  sample  copy  privileges  and  to  the  amount  of  advertising 
a  periodical  may  carry. 

On  page  48  of  its  report  the  commission,  speaking  of  methods  to 
curb  a  periodical's  growth  in  both  circulation  and  weight,  advises 
that  the  following  be  covered  into  the  law  in  lieu  of  certain  phrasings 
now  in  the  statutes  and  which,  the  commission  asserts,  have  proved 
quite  inadequate  in  restraining  periodicals  from  expanding  their 
circulation  beyond  a  point  which  they  are  pleased  to  call  "normal." 
They  advise  that  the  law  "enforce  the  requirement  that  the  periodical 
may  be  issued  and  circulated  only  in  response  to  a  public  demand." 


110  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

In  the  draft  of  a  bill  which  this  1906-7  commission  recommends 
become  a  law,  the  following  are  the  means  by  which  circulation  "only 
in  response  to  a  public  demand"  will  be  attained: 

(a)  By  reducing  to  a  minimum  the  sample  copy,  which  is  one  of  the  main 
agencies  of  inflation.     The  legitimate  periodical  employing  this  means  only  to  a 
slight  extent  will  not  be  at  all  affected. 

(b)  By  abolishing  all  premiums,  whether  of  printed  matter  or  merchandise. 

(c)  By  either  prohibiting  all  combination  offers,  as,  for  example,  a  set  of 
books  with  a  magazine,  or  requiring  that  in  all  cases  a  price  shall  be  set  upon  both 
elements  of  the  combination  and  that  the  full  advertised  price  of  the  periodical  be 
paid. 

(d)  By  requiring  that  the  publication  shall  print  conspicuously,  not  only 
its  regular  subscription  price,  but  any  reduced  price  at  which  it  is  offered  in  club- 
bing arrangements  and  the  like. 

(e)  By  providing  that  all  copies  which  the  postmaster,  in  the  exercise  of 
due  diligence  shall  be  unable  to  deliver,  shall  be  returned  with  a  postage-due  stamp 
for  an  amount  equal  to  double  the  third-class  rate.     In  other  words,  charge  the 
publisher  the  third-class  rate  both  for  the  forwarding  and  the  returning  of  any 
copy  sent  otherwise  than  in  response  to  an  actual  demand. 

To  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  the  commission's  talk,  advising  the 
enforcement  of  "the  requirements  that  the  periodical  may  be  issued 
and  circulated  only  in  response  to  a  public  demand"  (page  40  of  report), 
reads  much  like  one  of  two  things — either  the  inconsidered  or  ill- 
considered  prattle  of  persons  who  want  to  say  something,  or  the  argu- 
ment of  ulterior  motive — of  a  covert  purpose  to  restrict,  to  cripple,  to 
kill  the  greatest  instrument  for  the  education  of  its  adult  citizens  which 
any  nation  of  earth  has  to  date  discovered — an  instrument  that  is 
economically  within  easy  reach  of  its  exchequer. 

How  much  of  a  "public  demand"  does  the  reader  think  there 
would  have  been  for  the  reaper,  for  the  thrashing  machine,  for  the 
case-hardened,  steel  shared  plow,  for  the  sewing  machine,  for  the 
triple  expansion  engine,  for  the  traveling  crane,  for  any  brand  of 
breakfast  food,  of  ham,  of  flour,  books — in  short,  how  much  of  "public 
demand"  would  there  have  been  for  any  of  the  mechanical  in- 
ventions, for  any  of  the  multitude  of  betterments  in  the  housing, 
clothing  and  subsisting  of  our  people,  had  not  that  "public  demand" 
been  created?  No  one  wants  anything,  however  excellent  it  may  be, 
until  his  attention  is  called  to  it  and  he  believes  it  will  aid  him  or  her, 
as  the  case  may  be,  that  it  will  lighten  the  stress  of  labor  or  increase 
its  product,  or  in  other  lines  and  directions  improve  the  conditions  of 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  Ill 

their  lives,  industrially  or  otherwise.  Ninety-nine  per  cent  of  "public 
opinion,"  as  to  whether  or  not  that  public  wants  or  does  not  want 
this,  that  or  the  other  thing  is  influenced — is  promoted  by  what  it 
senses  in  personal  contact  with  the  thing  or  by  what  it  hears  said 
of  it  or  reads  of  it. 

That  statement  is  as  true  of  the  members  of  the  1906-7  commis  • 
sion  and  of  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  as  it  is  of  Mr.  William 
Mossback  of  Mossville,  Connecticut.  The  "demand"  of  each  of  us — 
our  desire  to  possess  this  or  that — is  prompted — is  created — by  what 
we  see,  hear,  feel,  taste,  smell  or  read  of  it.  We  stand  at  the  head 
of  the  nations  of  earth  for  progress  in  the  various  fields  of  mechanical 
improvement,  from  kitchen  utensils  to  laundry  equipment,  from  the 
plow  to  the  electric  crane.  What  is  true  of  the  progress  of  our  people 
through  the  adoption  of  labor-saving  mechanical  devices,  implements 
and  machinery  is  correspondingly  true  in  various  other  fields  of  prog- 
ress— a  progress  largely  the  result  of  promoted  "demand"  for  the 
better  things,  for  the  improvements  of  which  our  people  have  read 
in  our  newspapers  and  in  our  monthly  and  weekly  publications — yes, 
read  of  in  the  advertisements  and  in  descriptive  write-ups  of  such 
periodicals,  if  you  will  have  it  so. 

So  this  prattle  about  issuing  a  periodical  "only  to  public  demand" 
is  not  only  prattle — it  is  not  only  unsound  and  unbusiness-like  both 
in  theory  and  service  practice,  but  it  is  also  a  stealthy  attempt  to 
garrote  the  facts,  likewise  an  attempt  to  subject  the  great  publishing 
interests  of  the  country  to  the  rankest  kind  of  injustice. 

How  is  the  publisher  to  secure  additional  subscribers  if  he  be 
denied  mailing  privilege  to  sample  copies? 

True,  the  bill  recommended  by  this  commission  would  allow  the 
publisher  to  mail  sample  copies  to  the  extent  of  ten  per  cent  of  his 
subscribed  issue.  Mr.  Hitchcock,  however,  as  I  shall  shortly  show, 
proposes  to  exclude  all  sample  copies  from  the  mails. 

The  following  is  quoted  from  Mr.  Hitchcock's  1910  report  and 
shows  that  the  Postoffice  Department,  as  at  present  directed,  is 
determined  to  curb  the  growth  and  development  of  periodical  litera- 
ture in  this  country  in  every  way  possible — ways  that  scruple  not  at 
biased  rulings  and  grossly  unjust  distinctions.  In  the  following  Mr. 
Hitchcock  is  after  what  he  is  pleased  to  designate  as  an  "abuse  of  the 
sample-copy  privilege." 


112  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

In  order  to  discontinue  the  privilege  of  mailing  sample  copies  at 
the  cent-a-pound  rate,  legislation  in  substantially  the  following  form 
is  suggested : 

That  so  much  of  the  act  approved  March  3,  1885  (23  Stat.,  387),  as  relates 
to  publications  of  the  second  class  be  amended  to  read  as  follows 

"That  hereafter  all  publications  of  the  second-class,  except  as  provided  by 
Section  25  of  the  act  of  March  3,  1879  (20  Stat.,  361),  when  sent  to  subscribers 
by  the  publishers  thereof  and  from  the  known  offices  of  publication,  or  when  sent 
from  news  agents  to  subscribers  thereto  or  to  other  news  agents  for  the  purpose  of 
sale,  shall  be  entitled  to  transmission  through  the  mails  at  one  cent  a  pound  or  fraction 
thereof,  such  postage  to  be  prepaid  as  now  provided  by  law." 

In  drafting  the  above  recommended  legislation  Mr.  Hitchcock  no 
doubt  was  greatly  assisted  by  the  luminous  suggestions,  advice, 
analyses,  etc.,  of  his  Third  Assistant,  Mr.  Britt,  to  be  found  on  pages 
331  and  332  of  the  1910  report — which  suggestions,  advice,  etc.,  is 
based  largely  on  "estimates" — "estimates"  which  any  student  or 
careful  observer  of  the  Postoffice  Department  methods  of  figuring 
and  accounting  will  readily  discern  are,  in  several  particulars,  some- 
what "influenced,"  if  not,  indeed,  "fixed." 

Up  to  January  1,  1908,  periodical  publishers  were  allowed  to  mail 
sample  copies  of  any  issue  in  number  equal  to  that  of  their  subscribed 
lists.  Acting  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Penrose-Overstreet 
Commission,  no  doubt  approved  by  Mr.  Hitchcock,  the  mailing 
privilege  on  sample  copies  was  cut  down,  January  1,  1908,  to  10  per 
cent  of  the  subscribed  issue.  Now  comes  Mr.  Hitchcock  with  a  bit 
of  recommended  legislation,  as  quoted  above,  which  would,  if  favor- 
ably acted  upon  by  Congress,  deny  the  mailing  privilege  to  all 
sample  copies  at  the  cent-a-pound  rate. 

Though  not  pertinent  to  the  subject  immediately  under  con- 
sideration, I  desire  here  to  call  the  reader's  attention  again  to  a  point 
in  Mr.  Hitchcock's  recommended  legislation  as  quoted  above — a  point 
which  is  conspicuously  worthy  of  a  second  notice  and  to  which  I 
have  called  attention  on  a  previous  page. 

Mr.  Hitchcock's  report,  from  which  the.  foregoing  piece  of  recom- 
mended legislation  is  quoted,  bears  date  of  December  1,  1910.  Keep 
that  in  mind.  In  that  recommendation  he  would  grant  a  continuance 
of  the  cent-a-pound  postage  rate  on  periodicals  "sent  to  subscribers," 
but  to  such  only.  No  sample  copies  are  to  be  carried  and  handled, 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  113 

mind  you,  at  the  cent-a-pound  rate  after  Mr.  Hitchcock's  recom- 
mendation becomes  law — that  is,  if  it  ever  does  become  law. 

Now,  the  subscribed  mailings  of  any  periodical — newspaper. or 
other — are  piece  or  single-copy  mailings,  which  are  admittedly  the 
most  expensive  or  costly  to  the  government  to  transport  and  handle. 

Yet  Mr.  Hitchcock  recommends  that  the  cent-a-pound  rate  shall 
continue  to  be  extended  to  such  single  copies — a  most  just  and  sensible 
recommendation. 

But  Mr.  Hitchcock  when  he  wrote  that  bit  of  recommended 
legislation  was  thinking — and  thinking  only,  if  indeed  he  gave  the 
subject  any  personal  thought  at  all — of  curbing  the  circulation  growth 
of  periodicals  and,  as  a  means  to  that  end,  recommends  the  exclusion 
of  all  sample  copies  from  the  pound-rate  privilege. 

Read  carelessly  or  superficially  that  bit  of  suggested  legislation  in 
itself  does  not  appear  to  have  anything  to  do  with  sample  copies. 
On  second  and  more  careful  reading,  however,  its  purpose  becomes 
clear.  If  the  cent-a-pound  rate  is  to  be  allowed  only  to  regularly 
subscribed  copies  of  a  periodical,  then  all  sample  copies  must  be  mailed, 
if  mailed  at  all,  at  the  third-class  rate — must  pay  eight  cents  a  pound. 

When  it  comes  to  covering  or  cloaking  ulterior  purpose  or  intent 
in  legislation,  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  an  expert,  it  would  appear  from  the 
rider  he  so  strenuously  tried  to  put  astride  the  1911-12  postoffice 
appropriation  bill,  and  from  the  foregoing  as  well  as  some  others  of  his 
suggestions  to  Congress.  But  the  point  to  which  I  more  especially 
desire  to  call  to  the  reader's  attention  when  I  obtruded  that  last 
preceding  quotation  at  a  point  where  it  interrupted  a  consideration 
of  the  Penrose-Overstreet  Commission's  report  was  this: — 

As  previously  stated,  Mr.  Hitchcock's  1910  report  bears  date, 
December  1,  1910.  On  that  date,  as  appears  from  the  last  quotation, 
he  desired  a  law  that  would  bar  all  sample  copies  from  the  mails  at 
the  present  second-class  rate.  It  also  appears  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  at 
the  date  named — December,  1,  1910 — desired  that  all  periodicals 
issued,  except  sample  copies,  be  carried,  as  now,  at  the  cent-a-pound  rate. 

Somewhere  around  February  1,  1911 — barely  two  months  after  he 
makes  that  cent-a-pound  recommendation — we  hear  Mr.  Hitchcock 
assertively  declaring,  and  contentiously  arguing,  that  it  costs  the 
government  9. 23  cents  per  pound  to  transport  and  handle  second-class 
matter. 


114  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

What  happened  to  his  mental  gear  in  so  short  a  time  to  induce  so 
loud  a  change  in  his  mind? 

Or  was  it  a  change  of  mind?  On  page  328  of  that  1910  depart- 
mental report,  Mr.  Britt,  Third  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  who 
has  charge  of  the  accounting  division  of  the  sendee,  makes  the  bold 
statement  that  it  cost  the  government  $62,438,644.70  more  to  carry 
and  handle  the  second-class  mail  last  year  than  was  received  for  the 
service.  Being  an  "expert"  figurer  Mr.  Britt  found  no  difficulty  in 
arriving  at  that  absurd  9.23  cents  a  pound  as  the  actual  cost  to  the 
government  of  carrying  and  handling  second-class  mail.  On  pages 
7  and  8  of  the  report,  Mr.  Hitchcock  himself  gives  publicity  to  a 
conviction  that  the  cent-a-pound  rate  should  be  increased  on  certain 
periodicals — the  magazines — generously  suggesting  that  the  increased 
rate  be  confined  to  their  "advertising  pages"  only.  In  the  loosely 
worded  "rider"  he  carelessly — or  purposely — uses  the  word  "sheets" 
in  place  of  the  word  "pages"  as  used  in  his  report. 

Still,  in  face  of  his  Third  Assistant's  lofty  figuring,  the  conclusions 
of  which  are  announced  on  page  328  of  the  report,  and  of  his  own 
statement  of  the  "reasons  for  an  increase  of  rate"  on  periodicals  of  the 
magazine  class,  for  carrying  and  handling  their  "advertising  pages"- 
in  face  of  these  statements,  how  did  his  mental  gear  so  slip,  or  "jam," 
as  to  induce  him  to  recommend,  on  page  35  of  this  same  report,  the 
enactment  of  a  law  continuing  the  cent-a-pound  rate  on  all  period- 
icals mailed,  except  sample  copies? 

Did  he  intentionally  double  cross  both  himself  and  his  Third 
Assistant  or,  in  his  anxiety  to  curb  the  circulation  growth  of  period- 
icals, did  he  forget  what  he  and  Mr.  Britt  had  said? 

What's  the  answer? 

I  give  it  up.  However  it  may  appear  to  the  reader,  to  The  Man 
on  the  Ladder  it  appears  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  in  his  1910  report  has 
written,  figured  and  "recommended"  himself  into  a  situation  that  is 
far  more  humoresque  than  it  is  consistent  or  informative. 

Returning  to  the  report  of  the  1906-7  commission,  I  will 
mention  a  few  more  of  its  objectionable  recommendations. 

As  previously  stated,  the  Penrose-Overstreet  Commission  recom- 
mended the  enactment  of  a  law  requiring  that  newspapers  and  other 
periodicals  devote  not  more  than  one -half  their  space  to  advertising 
matter  (Section  3  of  recommended  bill,  page  50  of  report).  Thus, 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  115 

in  pressing  an  ill-conceived  purpose  to  restrain  the  growth  of  circula- 
tion and  increase  of  weight  of  monthly  and  weekly  periodicals,  they 
would,  it  appears,  cut  into  that  division  of  their  published  matter 
-which  produces  the  greatest  revenue  to  the  government  for  carriage  and 
handling. 

The  truth  of  the  last  clause  preceding  has  been  so  frequently  and 
conclusively  shown  as  to  require  no  argument  to  convince  the  veriest 
tyro  in  knowledge  of  federal  postoffice  affairs  and  the  sources  of  its 
revenues  that  the  statement  made  is  true.  Elsewhere  in  this  volume, 
however,  the  truth  of  the  statement  will  be  found  fully  established. 

I  confine  the  application  of  the  statement  to  monthly  and  weekly 
periodicals,  to  such  as  are  of  general  circulation.  It  of  course  applies, 
but  in  lesser  degree,  to  newspapers.  The  advertising  matter  pub- 
lished in  the  newspapers  is  largely  of  local  character,  while  that 
published  in  our  high  class  monthly  magazines  and  weeklies,  in  trade 
journals,  etc.,  is  largely  general  in  character.  The  advertisements 
published  by  the  former  are  chiefly  those  of  local  merchants  and 
manufacturers  and  of  local,  commercial,  financial  and  other  interests. 
On  the  other  hand  the  advertisements  carried  by  the  class  of  monthly 
and  weekly  periodicals  indicated  represent  persons,  companies  and 
interests  widely  scattered  throughout  the  country.  Because  of  this 
phase  in  the  character  of  the  advertisements  carried,  the  newspapers 
advertising  space  is  not  nearly  so  large  a  contributor  to  the  govern- 
ment's revenues  from  first,  third  and  fourth  class  mail  carriage  and 
handling  as  is  the  advertising  space  of  our  high-class  monthly  and 
weekly  periodicals. 

It  is  true  that  this  1906-7  commission  makes  a  somewhat  strained 
effort  to  assign  two  chief  reasons  for  its  recommendation  to  curtail 
the  space  which  publishers  of  periodicals  of  all  kinds  may  devote  to 
advertising  matter. 

1.  The  commissioners  appear  to  have  been  carrying  around  with 
them  a  stern  purpose  to  suppress  what  they  designate  as  the  "mail 
order"  publications,  devoted  largely  to  advertising  the  wares  carried 
in  stock  by  one  or,  at  most,  a  few  firms  that  individually  or  jointly 
pay  for  publishing  the  "weekly"  or  "monthly",  as  the  case  may  be. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  there  is  a  large  number  of  such 
alleged  periodicals  which  have  been  issued  and  distributed  through  the 
mails  for  the  plainly  manifest  purpose  of  advertising  the  merchandise 


116  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

of  those  who  pay  for  publishing  them.  I  believe,  however,  that  there 
are  fewer  of  such  fake  periodicals  enjoying  the  mail  service  at  second- 
class  rates  today  than  there  were  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago.  The  Post- 
office  Department,  it  must  be  said  to  its  credit,  has  "disciplined"  a 
large  number  of  them  out  of  existence  or,  at  any  rate,  out  of  the 
second-class  mail  rate  privilege. 

But  even  if  there  are  more  of  such  fraud  and  fake  periodicals 
today  than  formerly,  any  fair-minded  man  must  agree  that  it  is  a  very 
rank  injustice  to  punish — to  penalize  by  harsh  restrictions  and  in- 
creased mailing  rates — the  thousands  of  legitimate  and  highly  service- 
able periodicals  for  the  sins  of  a  comparatively  few  alleged  publications 
which  have  abused  or  are  abusing  the  second-class  mail  rate  privilege. 

The  department,  with  its  large  force  of  inspectors  and  investi- 
gators, should  be  able  to  weed  out  and  exclude  such  "fixed"  periodi- 
cals. If  it  cannot  do  so  it  appears  to  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  that 
it  would  not  require  a  very  large  amount  of  industrious,  strenuous 
thinking  on  the  part  of  six  robust,  competent  legislators  to  frame  a 
law  that  would  reach  the  guilty  without  punishing  or  crippling  the 
innocent. 

2.  This  commission  was  also,  it  would  appear,  a  stickler  over 
compliance  with  the  postal  statutes — statutes  (those  now  largely 
governing)  enacted  in  1879  and  1885,  therefore  so  antiquated  in  their 
wording  in  several  particulars  as  to  be  a  misfit  when  attempt  is  made 
to  apply  them  to  the  vast  business  and  varied  character  of  periodicals 
today. 

The  statute  of  March  3,  1879,  in  its  definition  of  what  the  law 
would  recognize  as  a  periodical  says,  among  other  things,  that  a 
periodical  must  be  "originated  and  published  for  the  dissemination  of 
information  of  a  public  character,  or  devoted  to  literature,  the  arts, 
sciences,  or  to  some  industry.1' 

This  portion  of  the  statutory  definition  the  Commission  seems  to 
have  entertained  a  special  grudge  against.  At  any  rate  it  expatiated 
at  considerable  length  in  its  report,  against  the  inadequacy,  lack  of 
definiteness,  etc.,  of  the  definition  as  given.  The  commission's 
chief  objection  seems  to  center  around  the  fact  that  space  in  periodi- 
cals should  not  be  devoted  to  "commercial  ends." 

On  page  35  of  the  report  the  commission  says : 

"What  was  in  the  mind  of  the  author  (of  the  1879  statute),  is  clear  enough. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  117 

He  wished  to  prohibit  the  misuse  of  the  privileges  for  commercial  ends  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  devotion  to  literature,  science,  and  the  rest." 

It  is  possible  that  they  knew  "what  was  in  the  mind  of  the  author 
of  that  79  statute  better  than  I  know  it,  or  than  Jim  Smith  or  Reuben 
Peachtree  knows  it.  It  is  also  possible  that  they  did  not  know  the 
mind  of  that  lawbuilder  any  better.  While  the  '79  statute  does 
not,  in  many  particulars,  meet  present  conditions  as  they  should  be 
met,  in  defining  a  publication  that  should  be  recognized  as  a  peri- 
odical, it  requires  a  supercritical  or  finicky  mind  to  find  much  fault 
with  it. 

A  periodical  must  be  "originated  and  published  for  the  dissemina- 
tion of  information  of  a  public  character,  devoted  to  literature,  the 
arts,  sciences  or  some  special  industry." 

Now,  when  one  considers  the  broad  application  of  the  word 
"literature,"  the  word  "arts,"  comprehending  as  it  does  not  only  the 
mechanical  and  liberal  or  polite  arts,  but  also  business,  commercial, 
mercantile  and  others,  including  the  science  of  business  manage- 
ment, and  the  term  "special  industry"  and  the  broad  field  covered  by 
it — when  one  considers  the  broad  application  of  those  words,  it  is  a 
fairly  legitimate  inference  that  it  was  "in  the  mind"  of  the  writer 
when  drafting  that  79  statute  to  give  a  broad  meaning  and  range  of 
service  to  the  publications  he  intended  should  be  classed  as  periodicals. 

In  this  connection  it  is  pertinent  to  ask  why  periodical  publi- 
cations should  not  serve,  either  in  their  advertising  pages  or  in  their 
"body  pages,"  devoted  to  fiction  and  articles  on  political  conditions, 
economics,  history,  the  lives  and  deeds  of  men,  forests  and  forestry, 
mills,  mines,  factory,  farm  and  a  vast  array  of  other  features,  phases 
and  conditions — why,  I  ask,  should  our  periodicals  not  give  aid  by 
giving  space  to  the  great  mercantile,  manufacturing,  financial,  agri- 
cultural and  other  interests  in  this  country — interests  which,  col- 
lectively, have  built  up  a  commerce  more  vast  today  than  that  of  any 
other  nation  of  earth? 

Why  should  not  this  vast  commerce  of  ours — a  commerce  in 
which  every  man,  woman  and  child  of  our  people  is  directly  or  in- 
directly interested — be  aided  and  served  in  every  legitimate  way 
by  our  periodicals?  Will  some  politically  living  member  of  that 
Penrose-Overstreet  Commission  rise  and  answer?  Answer,  not  in 
hypercritical  nothings,  but  straightly  and  bluntly? 


118  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

Another  immediately  pertinent  thing  should  be  stated  and 
another  asked  here.  Among  the  instruments  which  have  contributed 
to  build  up  the  great  commerce  of  the  nation,  the  American  periodical 
must  be  recognized — is  recognized — as  one  of  the  most  efficient. 

Why,  then,  this  recent  attempt  to  cripple,  to  curb,  to  lessen,  its 
influence  and  effort?  And  why,  again,  try  to  curtail  its  circulation 
and  usefulness  by  prattle  about  a  postal  "deficit"  as  reason  for 
restrictive  departmental  rulings  and  laws  when,  should  such  restric- 
tive measures  be  made  effective,  a  shrinkage  of  postal  revenues  and  a 
consequent  increase  of  deficit  would,  necessarily,  result? 

Will  some  one  whose  thought-dome  and  pockets  are  not  full  of 
ulterior  motives  and  postal  service  "deficits"  please  rise  and  answer? 

Returning  to  the  1906-7  commission's  agony  over  the  definition 
in  the  act  of  1879  of  what  should  be  considered  a  periodical  and, 
therefore,  entitled  to  mail  entry  as  second-class  matter,  it  appears 
that  the  commissioners,  in  an  apparent  anxious  anxiety  to  prove 
their  charge  against  the  author  of  the  act  for  careless,  ambiguous 
wording,  quote  a  lawyer's  opinion,  or  part  of  such  opinion,  in  support 
of  the  carefully  framed-up  "arguments"  which  it  presents  in  didactic 
order,  both  before  and  after  the  quotation. 

The  quotation,  it  should  be  noted,  is  from  the  brief  of  the  Post- 
master General's  counsel  in  Houghton  vs.  Payne,  194  U.  S.  88,  or  so 
the  commission's  report  designates  it. 

The  point  of  the  commission's  argument  appears  to  be :  ( 1)  that 
owing  to  its  loose,  indefinite  wording,  the  act  of  '79  was  of  easy  evasion 
when  it  came  to  passing  upon  the  kind  and  character  of  matter  which 
might  be  published  in  periodical  form  and  mailed  at  second-class 
rates,  and  (2)  that,  by  reason  of  such  loose  and  indefinite  wording, 
periodical  publishers  have  evaded  the  intent  and  purpose  of  the  act — 
have  abused  their  second-class  rate  privileges — have  violated  the  law. 

That,  at  any  rate,  I  read  as  the  point  and  purpose  of  the  com- 
mission's somewhat  labored,  if  not  strained,  argument.  They  quote 
(pages  37-38)  this  counsel  in  support  of  that  argument.  I  shall 
here  reprint  that  quotation  as  evidence  that  the  publisher  of  "the 
universally  recognized,  commonly  accepted,  and  perfectly  well 
understood  periodical  of  everyday  speech"  (see  fifth  paragraph  of 
quotation)  have  not  violated  the  law  nor  sought  to  do  so. 

The  quoted  opinion  presents  some  italicized  words,  phrases  and 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  119 

clauses  as  it  appears  in  the  report.  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to 
further  italicize  in  reprinting  it : 

"The  next  words  only  strengthen  the  same  idea — originated  and  published 
for  the  dissemination  of  information  of  a  public  character.  Not,  it  will  be  observed, 
that  it  shall  contain  information  of  a  public  character,  but  shall  be  published  for 
the  dissemination  of  such  public  information.  Each  of  these  words  is  significant, 
and  each  gathers  significance  from  its  neighbors.  Dissemination  is  here  a  word 
of  strong  color  and  tinges  all  the  rest.  It  indicates  a  dynamic  process,  an  agency 
at  work  carrying  out  a  purpose  for  which  it  was  originated  and  set  in  motion. 
But  strong  as  the  word  dissemination  is,  it  is  fortified  by  the  use  of  the  word 
information.  An  agency  for  the  dissemination  of  knowledge  for  example,  might 
better  consist  with  the  idea  of  a  library  of  books.  But  the  word  is  not  knowledge, 
but  information.  The  distinction  is  obvious.  One  has  the  sense  of  accumulated 
stores;  the  other  of  imparting  the  idea  of  things  for  current  needs.  One  is,  as  it 
were,  human  experience  at  rest ;  the  other,  human  experience  in  action.  One  may 
be  as  stale  as  you  please;  the  other  must  be  new,  fresh,  vital.  A  book,  a  volume, 
is  the  medium  of  one ;  a  journal  the  medium  of  the  other. 

"Information,"  says  the  Century  Dictionary,  "is  timely  or  specific  knowledge 
respecting  some  matter  of  interest  or  inquiry."  It  is,  as  it  were,  vitalized  knowl- 
edge; knowledge  imbued  with  life  and  activity.  Nor  when  we  come  to  the  next 
phase  do  we  find  any  change  in  the  idea — or  devoted  to  literature,  the  sciences, 
arts,  or  some  special  industry.  Devoted  to  literature.  Mark  you,  not  that  the 
publication  shall  be  literature  or  contain  literature,  but  that  it  shall  be  devoted 
to  literature.  What  is  meant  by  devoted?  The  Century  Dictionary  puts  it 
thus :  To  direct  or  apply  chiefly  or  wholly  to  some  purpose,  work,  or  use ;  to  give 
or  surrender  completely,  as  to  some  person  or  end,  as  to  devote  oneself  to  art, 
literature,  or  philanthropy  There  again  we  have  the  idea  of  a  permanent  con- 
tinuing entity,  a  thing  existing  for  a  given  purpose,  appearing  regularly  at  such 
intervals  (not  greater  than  three  months),  as  may  most  effectually  meet  its  needs, 
in  the  interest  of  art,  of  science,  or  literature. 

Do  we  say  that  a  book — a  novel,  a  history,  a  drama — is  devoted  to  litera- 
ture? It  is  not  devoted  to  literature;  it  is  literature,  and  it  would  be  an  absurdity 
to  speak  of  it  as  devoted  to  itself.  Such  a  locution  would  be  merely  a  willful 
perversion  of  language. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  review  or  a  magazine  may  be  said  to  be  devoted  to 
literature  with  perfect  naturalness  and  propriety.  For  we  rightly  conceive  of 
the  review  or  magazine  as  one  definite  recognizable  entity — a  continuing  whole, 
originated  for  a  given  purpose,  and  made  up  of  similar  parts  having  a  common 
object — literature,  for  example,  or  art,  or  science,  or  whatever  else  it  is  to  which 
the  whole  is  devoted. 

Taking  these  words,  originated  and  published  for,  dissemination,  information, 
devoted  to,  they  all  point  to  one  conclusion.  They  are,  we  repeat,  strong  and 
pregnant  words.  There  is  but  one  concept  consistent  with  them  all.  We 
confidently  submit  that  an  attentive  reading  of  the  statute  will  leave  no  doubt 
that  what  Congress  constantly  had  in  mind  in  the  creating  of  this  privileged  class 


120  POSTAL  RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

of  publications  was  the  universally  recognized,  commonly  accepted,  and  perfectly 
well  understood  periodical  of  everyday  speech. 

In  establishing  the  rate  for  newspapers  and  other  periodical  publications 
Congress  was  not  seeking  to  discriminate  between  good  literature  and  bad 
literature  or  to  establish  a  censorship  of  the  press  -with  prizes  for  merit.  The  thing  it 
had  in  mind  was  not  the  goodness  or  badness  of  the  information  disseminated,  but 
the  instrumentalities  by  which  that  dissemination  might  be  accomplished.  It  was 
not  thinking  of  all  the  accumulated  stores  of  sound  and  pure  literature  in  the  vast 
libraries  of  the  world,  but  it  was  thinking  of  how  the  mind  of  an  inquiring  and 
progressive  people  might  be  kept  abreast  of  the  times  in  all  departments  of  human 
thought  and  activity.  Congress  did  not  stand  hesitating  between  a  good  book  and 
a  bad  newspaper 

Another  position  taken  by  the  Penrose-Overstreet  Commission, 
and  one  which  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  strongly  opposes,  is  that  a 
periodical  may  not  or  "must  not  consist  wholly  or  substantially  of 
fiction." 

The  words  just  quoted  are  exactly  the  words  used  in  the  sixth 
paragraph  of  Section  2  of  the  bill  the  enactment  of  which  this  com- 
mission recommended. 

Now,  whatever  their  wit  or  wisdom,  their  eloquence  or  adroitness 
of  speech,  their  beauty  of  shape  and  apparel,  or  their  loftiness  of 
position,  that  "recommendation"  should  recommend  the  personnel 
of  that  commission,  it  seems  to  me,  to  some  "wronghouse"  for  a  long 
rest.  Their  conclusion,  their  lex  recommendation  and  their  "argu- 
ment" in  support,  taken  collectively,  are  as  thrilling,  likewise  amusing, 
as  the  point  in  a  story  "where  the  woman  is  turned  on  and  begins  to 
short  circuit  the  hero,"  putting  it  as  near  as  I  can  remember  in  the 
language  of  Sewell  Ford,  Bowers,  or  some  other  "enlivening  writer." 

Lest  the  reader  think  my  adverse  criticism  of  the  commissioners 
too  harsh,  or  not  in  keeping  with  the  dignity  of  the  gentlemen 
composing  that  1906-7  commission,  I  shall  here  quote  a  few  of  the 
paragraphs  it  presents  as  basis  for  its  recommendation.  The  reader 
will  oblige  by  carefully  noting  the  italics.  They  are  mine,  and,  follow- 
ing the  quotation,  I  shall  comment  on  some  of  those  italicized 
phrasings  and  statements : 

"Not  only  does  the  element  of  fiction  constitute  the  (1)  propulsive  force  behind 
the  expansion  of  second-class  matter,  but  it  serves  at  the  same  time  (2)  to  undermine 
the  main  statutory  clieck  upon  the  commercial  exploitation  of  the  second  class.  Being 
free  to  make  up  a  periodical  which  contains  nothing  but  fiction,  publishers  find 
ready  at  hand  the  very  thing  with  which  to  interlard  and  disguise  the  adver- 
tising matter,  for  the  sake  of  which  the  publication  is  really  issued.  This  they 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  121 

could  not  do  if  the  advertisement  carrying  text  was  required  to  be  news  matter  or 
critical  matter  of  a  current  nature.  (3)  Deprive  the  mail-order  journals  of  the 
right  to  cloak  their  advertising  with  fiction  and  require  them  to  publish  something 
in  the  nature  of  a  newspaper  or  review  with  expensive  news-gathering  apparatus 
and  an  editorial  staff  and  (4)  the  mail-order  advertising  journal  will  completely 
disappear.  It  lives  only  by  reason  of  two  things,  the  cheapness  of  its  fiction,  with 
which  it  cloaks  its  advertising,  and  the  cheapness  of  the  postal  rate  which  that 
fiction  cloak  enables  it  to  obtain. 

The  distinction  between  the  fiction-carrying  periodical  and  the  nonfiction- 
carrying  periodical  (5)  is  precisely  the  distinction  between  a  periodical  fulfilling 
the  purposes  of  the  act  and  the  publication  which,  although  periodical  in  its  form,  has 
no  true  periodicity  in  its  essence. 

Another  consequence  of  the  expansive  power  of  fiction  is  found  in  the  con- 
fusion of  the  newspaper  and  magazine  types  and  the  unhealthy  exaggeration  of  the 
modern  newspaper,  as  shown  especially  in  its  Sunday  editions. 

The  newspaper  is  rapidly  being  extended  into  the  magazine  field  at  the 
sacrifice  both  of  the  postal  revenue  and  the  (6)  true  mission  of  the  newspaper.  The 
miscellaneous  matter  contained  in  the  Sunday  issue  of  a  newspaper  must  of  necessity 
lack  the  quality  to  make  it  socially  and  educationally  valuable"  (Page  37.) 

"No  fiction  necessarily  involves  the  element  of  periodicity  or  time  publica- 
tion which  is  involved  in  the  very  idea  of  a  newspaper  or  periodical.  It  follows, 
then,  (7)  that  the  real  purpose  of  the  act  of  March  3,  1879,  namely,  the  diffusion  in 
the  quickest  possible  way  at  the  smallest  possible  cost  of  timely  information  among 
the  people,  is  perverted  when  the  right  to  that  quick  and  inexpensive  diffusion  is 
extended  to  the  form  of  fiction.  But  the  periodical  form  devoted  to  fiction,  or  in 
which  fiction  constitutes  the  predominant  feature,  is  the  very  form  of  periodical 
which  serves  to  swell  the  second  class.  The  popular  demand  for  fiction  seems  to 
be  practically  unlimited.  The  temptation  offered  by  the  low  postal  rate  to  supply 
that  demand  through  the  periodical  form  is  a  temptation  impossible  to  resist," 
(Page  39.) 

I  shall  make  my  comment  on  the  foregoing  in  the  order  that  its 
italicized  assertions  are  numbered. 

(1)  The  '  'element  of  fiction"  has  not  and  does  not  constitute 
"the  propulsive  force"  stated.  Was  it  "fiction"  that  propulsed  the 
circulation  of  Everybody's?  of  Pearson's"?  of  The  Cosmopolitan?  of  The 
American?  of  McC lure's?  of  The  Saturday  Evening  Post?  of  The  Inland 
Printer?  of  The  Progressive  Printer?  or  of  scores  of  other  monthly 
and  weekly  periodicals  whose  publishers  are  independent  enough  to 
do  their  own  thinking  and  courageous  enough  to  publish  what  they 
and  their  representatives  found  to  be  the  truth? 

Was  "Frenzied  Finance"  fiction? 

Was  Anna  M.  Tarbell's  exposures  of  Standard  Oil  fiction? 

Was  the  exposure  of  the  Waters-Pierce  Oil  Company's  connection 


122  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

with  the  great  Senatorial  "I"  of  Texas  fiction?  Was  the  shake-up  of 
the  "Big  Three"  life  insurance  companies  fiction ?  Were  the  hundreds 
of  other  trenchant  write-ups  and  exposures  of  wrong  practices,  of 
impositions,  of  crookedness  and  crooks  in  official,  corporation  and 
private  life,  "fiction?" 

The  man  who  reads  and  will  attempt  to  answer  any  of  those 
questions  affirmatively  needs  to  have  his  brain  dusted  up — that  is,  of 
course,  on  the  presumption  that  he  is  not  paid  for  vocal  gyrations. 

And  yet  it  was  the  telling  write-ups  and  exposures  of  these 
independents  which  greatly  increased  their  circulation  and,  conse- 
quently, increased  second-class  tonnage. 

(2)  There  is  no  such  "main  statutory  check."     Moreover,  the 
"commercial  exploitation"  given  in  the  advertising  pages  of  our 
standard  periodicals  to  merchants,  manufacturers,  etc.,  is,  as  previous- 
ly shown,  not  only  just  and  due  to  the  vast  commercial  interests  of 
the  country,  but  it  is  safely  within  both  the  letter  and  the  intent  of 
the  statute. 

(3)  As  previously  intimated,  a  sextet  of  experienced  legislators 
who  could  not  frame  up  a  law  that  would  put  the  "mail-order  jour- 
nals" and  other  abusers  and  abuses  of  the  second-class  mail-rate 
privilege  out  of  business  without  ruinously  restricting  and  obstructing 
the  vast  legitimate  periodical  interests  of  the  country,  that  sextet 
ought  to  do  one  of  two  things,  either  send  their  thought  equipment 
to  a  vacuum  cleaner  to  get  the  dust  blown  off  and  then  try  again,  or 
they  should  turn  the  task  over  to  some  other  legislators.     There  most 
certainly  are  scores  of  legislators  in  the  Senate  and  the  House  fully 
equipped  to  prepare  such  a  piece  of  legislation. 

(4)  In  comment  under  (3)  I  noted  this  "mail  order  advertising 
journal."     I  did  so  to  indicate  that  the    Penrose-Overstreet   Com- 
mission, as  it  appears  to  me,  worked  the  "mail  order"  print  stuff 
overtime  for  the  purpose  of  reaching  certain  legitimate  publications. 

(5)  There  is  no  such  distinction  between  "a  fiction-carrying  peri- 
odical and  the  non -fiction  carrying  periodical"  as  that  named.  Fic- 
tion in  a  periodical  is  just  as  permissible  under  the  act  as  is  the  series 
of  war  stories,  or  reminiscences,  now  (May,  191 1),  running  in  one  of  the 
magazines ;  as  in  the  series  of  articles  on  the  civil  war  now  running  in 
one  of  the  Chicago  newspapers,  or  as  would  be  a  series  of  articles  on 
"the  Panama  Canal,"  on  the  "Development  of  the  Reaping  Machine," 


I 

POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  123 

on  "Treason  in  Our  Senate,"  on  "The  Depletion  of  American  Forests," 
on  "The  Railroads'  Side  of  the  Railway  Mail  Pay,"  or  on  any  other 
subject  of  the  historical  past  or  active  present. 

In  fact,  most  of  the  current  fiction,  whether  in  serial  or  short- 
story,  published  in  the  standard  monthly,  weekly  and  other  periodi- 
cals of  large  general  circulation  presents  far  more  of  truth  than  do  the 
stories,  reminiscences  and  "historical  naratives  about  the  civil  war," 
written  forty-five  years  after  the  events,  and,  if  based  on  personal 
experience,  written  from  fading  memory  of  the  facts. 

(6)  While  one  may  agree  with  the  thought  expressed  by  the 
commission  at  (6),  its  wording  expresses  a  desire  or  tendency  to 
censor  the  periodical  press  of  the  people  by  legislative  restrictions  and 
departmental  rulings  which  not  only  contravene  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion, but  which  are  inimical  to  the  personal  rights  and  liberties  guaran- 
teed by  that  constitution. 

Force  is  added  to  this  objection  to  the  commission's  recommenda- 
tion by  the  fact  that  it  specifically  delegates  to  the  Postmaster  General 
the  power  and  authority  to  decide  the  kind  and  character  of  printed 
matter  which  shall  have  the  right  of  entry  at  second-class  rates,  and 
which  complies  with  the  requirements  the  commission  would  have 
written  into  the  law. 

Section  2  of  the  at  present  governing  statute,  the  commission 
advised  (see  recommended  bill,  page  49  of  report),  should,  in  its  open- 
ing paragraph,  read  as  follows: — 

"No  newspaper  or  other  periodical  shall  be  admitted  to  the  second 
class  unless  it  shall  be  made  to  appear  by  evidence,  satisfactory  to  the 
Postmaster  General  or  his  lawful  deputy  in  that  behalf,  that  it  complies 
with  the  following  conditions." 

Then  follow  the  "conditions,"  several  of  which  I  have  already 
shown  to  be  seriously  objectionable. 

(7)  I  have  already  presented,  under  (5),  some  objections  to  the 
commission's  argument  made  in  this  seventh  citation.     I  will,  how- 
ever, again  say  that  the  publication  of  fiction,  other  than  immoral,  in 
periodicals,  does  not,  in  my  judgment  at  least,  in  any  way  infringe 
the  "purpose  of  the  act"  of  1879.     I  will  here  go  further,  and  say  that 
the    act  of  '79  does  not  comprehend  in  its  "real  purpose,"  as  the 
commission  tries  to  make  it  appear  at  (7),  that  "the  diffusion  in  the 
quickest  possible  way  at  the  smallest  possible  cost  of  timely  infor- 


124  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

mation  among  the  people" — that  is,  the  act  does  not  so  purpose  if  the 
word  "timely,"  as  here  used,  is  intended  to  mean  "news"  or  "currence 
of  matter,"  etc.,  as  the  commission  elsewhere  in  its  report  argues  for. 
In  fact,  the  commission's  statement  at  (7)  is  further  alee  of  the  "real 
purpose"  of  the  act  of  1879  than  is  the  publication  of  any  fiction  in  a 
periodical,  and  that  too,  whether  the  fiction  be  a  reprint  of  some  old 
production  or  the  imaginative  visualizations  of  some  current  writer 
who  moved  from  periodical  publication  in  1908  or  1909  to  print  as  a 
"best-seller"  in  1910,  or  from  a  best  seller  in  1908-9  to  periodical 
form  in  1911. 

In  short,  the  commission's  position  regarding  the  publication  of 
fiction  in  periodical  form  contravenes  the  "real  purpose"  of  the  law. 
So,  also,  does  its  position  on  several  points  it  seeks  to  bolster  in  its 
report  contravene  the  real  purpose  of  that  act,  as  I  have  previously 
shown,  quoting  in  one  instance  the  opinion  of  a  Postmaster  General's 
counsel,  which  opinion  the  commission  itself  quoted  to  support  a 
false  position. 

I  feel  constrained  to  make  another  point  against  the  stand  this 
commission  took  against  the  admissibility  to  the  second  class  mail 
rate  privilege  of  periodicals  largely  devoted  to  fiction. 

It  appears  to  me  that  these  commissioners  must  have  confined 
their  reading  in  recent  years  largely  to  the  older  and  so-called  "classic" 
fiction,  to  professional  tomes,  to  juridic  opinions,  attorney's  briefs, 
and  to  "booster"  stuff  for  parties  and  candidates  published  in  our 
newspapers.  Certainly  they  could  not  have  read  much  of  the 
periodical  fiction  published  by  our  high-class  monthlies  and  weeklies. 
If  they  had  done  so,  they  would  not,  it  seems  to  me,  have  written  so 
loosely  and  unwarrantedly  of  the  "fiction"  in  their  report. 

Had  they  read  much  of  the  fiction  appearing  in  the  leading 
periodicals  during  current  and  recent  years,  they  would  have  learned 
at  least  two  facts  about  it : 

1.  Much — yes,  most — of  the  fiction  printed  during  recent  years 
in  our  standard  periodicals  (even  in  those  printing  only  fiction  as 
"body  matter"),  has  been  highly  didactic  or  educational  in  character. 

2.  The  periodical  fiction  published  in  our  leading  magazines  and 
weeklies  has  taught  our  people  lessons  in  morals,  in  politics,  in  political 
economy,  in  social,  domestic  and  industrial  life.     It  has  told  its  read- 
ers of  the  habits  and  habitat  of  animals,  of  birds  and  bees ;  of  flowers, 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  125 

of  fruits  and  forestry.  Nor  has  there  been  much  of  "nature  faking" 
in  it.  Some  of  the  most  informative  matter  ever  printed  bearing 
upon  natural  history,  the  geography,  topography  and  hydrog- 
raphy of  this  earth,  has  reached  us  through  the  periodical  fiction 
of  the  past  ten  or  twelve  years.  Not  only  that,  but  such  fiction  has 
gone  to  the  farm  and  into  the  laboratory,  into  the  mine,  the  factory, 
the  mill,  and  the  lumber  camp;  into  the  mercantile  establishment, 
into  transportation,  both  rail  and  water;  into  the  counting  room,  into 
the  "sweat-shop"  and  into  the  tenement  districts,  the  purlieus  and 
the  "submerged  tenths"  in  both  the  lower  and  higher  "walks"  of  the 
world's  various  and  varying  civilizations,  and  it  has  taught  us  things 
we  did  not  before  know. 

Then  why  should  new  laws  be  enacted,  or  old  laws  be  twisted, 
turned  or  misconstrued,  to  exclude  "fiction" — periodical  fiction — 
from  the  second-class  mail  rate  privilege? 

One  other  objection  I  find  to  this  1906-7  commission's  report. 
It  recommends  the  appointment  of  a  ''Commission  of  Postal  Appeals." 

The  report  states  that  certain  publishers  favored  such  a  com- 
mission. That  be  as  it  may,  I  do  not  believe  that  such  a  commission 
will  return  service  value  at  all  commensurate  with  the  amount  of 
public  money  it  would  cost  to  keep  its  wheels  "greased"  and  operat- 
ing. Next  to  a  bureauocracy,  government  by  commissions  is  the 
worst.  Can  the  reader  think  of  a  "Commission" — a  Government,  a 
State,  County  or  City  Commission — that  ever  discharged,  promptly 
and  satisfactorily,  the  duties  assigned  to  it?  One  is  put  to  no  trouble 
to  think  of  scores  of  Civil  Service  Commissions,  Forestry  Commissions, 
Subway  Commissions,  Canal  Commissions,  Traction  Commissions, 
Railroad  Commissions,  Postal  Commissions,  Inter-State  Commerce 
Commissions  and  a  host  of  others. 

But  do  you  know  of  one  of  them  that  ever  did  any  real  serviceable 
work  for  the  people — did  it  until  an  aroused  and  hostile  public  opinion 
kicked  it  into  doing  the  work? 

You  may  know  of  one.  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  knows  of  none, 
and  he  has  been  watching  the  service  value  of  the  "commission"  for 
thirty-five  years.  As  a  governing  instrument  it  has  largely  been  a 
subversive  instrument.  It  always  spends  its  appropriation.  It 
always  puts  as  many  of  its  uncles,  brothers  and  nephews  on  the  pay 
roll  and  takes  as  many  junkets  as  is  possible  under  its  appropriation 


126  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

and,  if  the  appropriation  is  exceeded,  it  usually  asks  for  more  and — 
gets  it. 

We  have  an  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  It  has  been  on 
the  job  ever  since  John  Sherman  put  it  on  duty.  Sherman  knew 
what  he  intended — wanted — it  to  do.  Did  it  do  what  he  and  the  rest 
of  us  depended  on  it  to  do  ?  Well,  not  to  any  noticeable  extent.  It 
spent  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  of  our  money  while  it  per- 
mitted the  railroads  and  express  companies  to  rebate,  "differential" 
and  "short"  and  "long"  haul  us  out  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  easy 
or  stolen  dollars. 

O  yes !  of  course  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  is,  of  late, 
getting  down  to  business — getting  down  to  the  work  John  Sherman 
intended  it  to  do  when  he  drafted  the  bill  which  created  it. 

Why  has  that  commission  finally  arrived  at  its  starting  point  ? 
Why  is  it  now  trying  to  do — and  trying,  even  yet,  to  do  it  in  a 
loose,  dilatory  way — what  Sherman  intended  it  to  do? 

"Why?"  Why,  simply  because  the  people  have  finally  learned — 
thanks  largely  to  the  enlightenment  given  them  by  the  independent 
periodicals  of  the  country — that  they  have  been  governmentally 
treated  as  fools — that  they  have  been  treated  as  sheep  to  furnish 
fleece  and  mutton  for  a  few  who  feast  and  wear  fine  raiment,  yet  earn 
it  not. 

O  yes,  the  people  have  learned  some  things  and  they,  recently, 
have  been  learning  rapidly.  It  is  the  people  who  have  learned  who 
have  virtually  kicked  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  into 
dutiful  action. 

No,  I  positively  do  not  like  government  by  commission,  and 
especially  do  I  not  like  government  of  our  postal  service,  or  any 
phase,  feature  or  division  of  it,  by  a  "Commission  of  Postal  Appeals" 
or  by  any  other  commission,  however  dignified  its  title  may  be.  Any 
suggestion  or  recommendation  of  such  a  commission  is,  to  The  Man 
on  the  Ladder,  but  a  suggestion  and  recommendation  to  further  load 
an  already  overloaded  service. 

By  that,  I  mean  that  the  service  now  rendered  by  the  Federal 
Postoffice  Department  is  not  nearly  commensurate  with  the  number 
of  employes  carried  on  its  payrolls  or  with  its  expenditures,  and  that 
the  creation  of  a  commission — any  postal  commission — will  only  add 


POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS.  127 

names  to  the  department  payrolls  and  thousands  of  dollars  to  its 
already  excessive  expenditures. 

In  closing  my  consideration  of  this  Penrose-Overstreet  Commis- 
sion's report — a  report  which  Mr.  Hitchcock  appears  to  have  taken 
some  "hunches"  from  while  it  also  appears  he  gave  very  little  or  no 
study  or  consideration  to  the  vast  amount  of  informative  data  it 
collected  and  filed — I  desire  to  make  a  statement  or  two  and  then  ask 
a  pertinently  impertinent  question  or  two. 

Among  the  vast  amount  of  informative  data  on  the  subject  of 
transporting  and  handling  second-class  mail  matter,  its  cost  to  the 
government,  etc.,  there  are  pages  upon  pages  of  testimony  by  publish- 
ers the  commission  invited  to  appear  before  it  in  person  or  by  repre- 
sentative. Some  of  that  testimony,  so  newspapers  reported  during 
the  hearings  in  both  New  York  and  Washington,  is  supported  or  re- 
enforced  by  the  jurats  of  the  publishers  testifying.  Some  of  those 
publishers  stated  in  their  testimony  that  the  sample  copies  they  had 
distributed  had,  by  reason  of  the  correspondence  and  mail  business 
resulting,  amply  compensated  the  government  for  carrying  and  hand- 
ling such  sample  copies.  Several  specific  and  detailed  statements 
were  made  by  the  publishers. 

Again:  The  publishers  furnished  voluminous  testimony — both 
in  their  own  statements  and  in  the  correspondence  of  business  men 
who  had  patronized  the  columns  of  their  publications — in  proof  of  the 
fact  that  (1)  the  advertising  pages  of  their  publications  were  as  gener- 
ally read,  if  not  more  read,  than  were  the  body  pages,  and  (2)  that 
the  sales  of  stamps  by  the  government  for  the  correspondence  and 
business  resulting  from  the  advertisements  printed  yielded  far  more 
postal  revenue  than  did  any  other  character  of  second-class  matter 
the  mail  service  handled. 

Now,  the  questions. 

When  this  Penrose-Overstreet  Commission  sent  out  its  invita- 
tions most  of  them  went  to  publishers  and  associations  of  publishers. 
At  any  rate  so  it  would  appear  from  statements  in  the  commission's 
report. 

Did  the  commission  believe  the  publishers  invited  were  liars? 

If  so,  why  did  it  invite  them? 

After  hearing  their  verbal  testimony  and  looking  over  their 


128  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

written  statements,  did  the  commission  conclude  that  those  publishers 
were  liars'? 

If  so,  why  did  it  spend  the  people's  money  to  collate,  digest  and 
file  the  testimony  of  liars  for  the  information  of  Mr.  Cortelyou,  the 
then  Postmaster  General,  Mr.  Meyer  and  Mr.  Hitchcock,  his  suc- 
cessor, and  other  Postmaster  Generals  who  will  follow  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock? 

Again — If  those  commissioners  of  1906-7  concluded,  either  before 
or  after  hearing  them,  that  the  publishers  were  or  are  liars,  why  may 
not,  or  should  not,  those  publishers  conclude  (after  reading  their 
veport)  that  the  commissioners  are  liars? 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   PUBLISHERS    SPEAK. 

I  quoted  from  Senator  Owen  on  a  previous  page  when  discussing 
the  unconstitutionality  of  Senate  re  venue -originating  amendments. 
Under  his  leave  to  print  Senator  Owen  embodied  in  his  remarks  on 
February  25,  1911,  the  arguments  presented  by  some  of  the  publishers 
in  reply  to  Mr.  Hitchcock's  statements.  They  point  out  in  particular 
his  peculiar  method  of  figuring  by  which  he  reaches  results  so  at 
variance  with  the  facts  as,  at  times,  to  be  far  more  amusing  than 
informative.  I  shall  here  quote  some  of  them. 

I  have  previously  adverted  to  the  promptitude  of  Senators 
Owen,  Bristow,  Bourne,  Cummings  and  others  in  getting  onto  the 
firing  line.  Their  combined  resistance  soon  forced  Mr.  Hitchcock 
to  unmask  his  guns.  He  was  ready,  it  would  seem,  to  do  or  concede 
almost  anything  provided,  always  and  of  course,  he  could  give  a  few 
of  those  pestiferous,  independent  magazines  a  jar  that  would  so  agitate 
their  several  bank  accounts  as  to  influence  them  to  print  what  they 
were  told  to  print. 

But  when  the  General  found  that  he  was  flanked,  and  his  position 
being  shot  up,  he  began  to  display  parley  and  peace  signals.  "The 
country  newspapers  would  not  be  affected" — they  would  still  be 
carried  and  distributed  free — 55,000,000  pounds  of  them  or  more 
each  and  every  calendar  year. 

The  "poor  farmer"  needs  special  government  aid,  you  know.  Or, 
if  the  farmer  should  not  be  personally  in  need  of  government  assistance, 
as  now  it  frequently  and  numerously  chances,  why,  well — oh,  well,  we 
desire  to  show  our  friendly  "leanin's  toward  him."  He  may  remem- 
ber it  at  the  next  Presidential  election — just  when  we  may  be  needing 
a  few  farmer  votes.  So,  as  one  evidence  of  our  kindly  consideration 
for  the  farmer,  we  will  not  trench  upon  his  special  privilege.  He  shall 
still  have  delivered  him — free — fifty-five  to  seventy  million  pounds  of 
"patent  insides"  and  other  partisan  dope  sheets,  printed  in  his  own 
county  and  published  and  edited  by  regularly  indentured,  branded 
and  tagged  political  fence-builders — guaranteed  "safe"  under  the 
pure  food  laws,  etc. 

129 


130  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

Then  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  also  let  it  be  generally 
known  that  it  was  remote  from  his  intentions  to  add  a  mail-rate 
penalty  to  any  religious,  educational,  fraternal  or  scientific  periodical. 
Some  of  these — not  including  the  Sunday  School  leaflets,  of  course — 
circulate  in  vast  editions  ranging  from  500  to  5,000  copies  a  month. 
They,  too,  were  such  "powerful  educational  instruments/'  he  or  some 
of  his  assistants  assured  doubting  Thomases  in  both  the  upper  and 
the  lower  branches  of  federal  legislation. 

Next,  he  back-stepped  a  little  to  assure  trade  journals  that  it 
was  not  his  purpose  to  hand  them  any  advance  over  the  cent-a-ppund 
mail  rate,  or  so  at  least,  Washington  correspondents  reported.  Finally 
it  is  said,  a  statement  generously  borne  out  by  the  wording  of  his 
jockeyed  "rider,"  that  newspapers — all  newspapers — would  be  fanned 
through  the  mail  service  at  the  old  cent-a-pound  rate. 

It  would  appear  that  the  anxious  interest  of  our  Postmaster 
General  was  willing  to  let  almost  any  old  thing  in  the  shape  of  a 
"periodical"  switch  through  and  along  at  the  old  rate,  if  he  could  only 
ham-string  a  few — a  score  or  less — of  monthly  and  weekly  periodi- 
cals which  persisted  in  printing  the  unlaundered  truth  about  looters, 
both  in  and  out  of  office. 

Now,  we  will  present  a  few  figures  and  statements  of  the  publish- 
ers, presented  in  answer  to  Mr.  Hitchcock's  voluminous,  likewise 
varied  and  variegated,  utterances,  both  verbal  and  in  print,  to  support 
his  lurid  guess  that  it  costs  the  government  9.23  cents  a  pound  to 
transport  and  handle  second-class  mail  matter. 

Before  quoting  the  publishers,  however,  I  desire  to  say  two 
things : 

1.  The  periodical  publishers  must  necessarily  know,  I  take  it, 
more  about  the  business  of  printing  and  distributing  periodicals  than 
Mr.  Hitchcock  has  been  able  to  learn  about  that  business  in  the  two 
politically  swijt  years  he  has  been  on  his  present  job. 

2.  The    publishers   in   replying — in   presenting   the  facts — are 
entirely  too  dignified.     Of  course,  dignity  is  a  fine  thing — an  elegant 
decoration  for  our  advanced  and  super-polished  civilization.     But 
when  some  human  animal  deliberately  and  industriously  tries  to 
shunt  on  to  your  siding  a  carload  or  more  of  "deficits"  and  other 
partisan  and  "vested  interest"  junk,  and  tells  you  its  price  is  so  much 
and  that  you  have  to  pay  the  price — well,  at  about  that  point  in  the 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  131 

progress  of  our  splendid  civilization,  I  think  it  both  the  part  of  justice 
and  of  thrift  to  lay  dignity  on  the  parlor  couch  and  walk  out  on  your 
own  trackage,  making  as  you  loiter  along  a  few  plain  and  easily  under- 
stood remarks.  That  is  just  what  I  believe  these  publishers  should 
have  done  when  Mr.  Hitchcock  covertly  tried  to  deliver  to  them, 
charges  collect,  his  several  large  consignments  of  talk  about  "deficits," 
"cost  of  carriage  and  handling  second-class  matter,"  * 'publisher's 
profits"  and  other  subjects  about  which  he  was  either  equally  ill- 
informed  or  ill-advised. 

Yes,  there  are  occasions  when  it  is  quite  proper  to  hang  one's 
dignity  on  that  nail  behind  the  kitchen  door  and  sally  forth  in  shirt 
sleeves  with  top-piece  full  of  rapid-fire  conversation. 

With  these  suggestions,  from  which  it  is  hoped  the  publishers 
may  take  a  few  hints  for  future  guidance  when  Presidents  and  Post- 
master Generals  undertake  to  deliver  to  them  a  cargo  of  cold-storage 
stuff  that  was  "off  color"  before  it  left  the  farm,  I  will  proceed  to  do 
what  I  have  several  times  started  to  do — quote  the  publisher  on  Mr. 
Hitchcock's  ring-around-a-rosy  method  of  figuring. 

In  quoting  from  the  publishers'  "exhibits"  it  is  due  to  Senator 
Owen  that  we  reprint  a  few  paragraphs  from  his  foreword.  In  speak- 
ing to  "the  merits  of  the  case,"  the  Senator  said: 

Separate  and  apart  from  the  fact  that  this  proposed  amendment  violates  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  rules  of  the  Senate,  I  regard  such  method 
of  legislation  as  unwise,  if  not  reprehensible,  for  the  reason  that,  in  effect,  it  is  a 
denial  of  the  right  to  be  heard  by  those  who  are  deeply  interested  in  it.  Over  a 
year  ago  the  periodical  publishers  affected  desired  to  be  heard  in  this  matter,  and 
were  not  given  a  proper  hearing  on  this  vital  question.  Indeed,  they  appear  to 
have  been  left  under  the  impression  that  nothing  would  be  done  in  regard  to  the 
matter ;  or,  at  all  events,  they  seem  to  have  been  under  this  impression.  When 
the  matter  came  before  the  House  of  Representatives  and  the  committee  having 
the  matter  in  charge,  no  discussion  of  this  matter  took  place.  No  report  on  it  was 
made.  No  opportunity  to  be  heard  was  afforded.  Neither  was  the  matter 
discussed  on  the  floor  of  the  House.  When  the  postoffice  appropriation  bill 
came  to  the  Senate,  no  hearing  was  afforded,  but  at  the  last  minute,  after  the 
committee  had  practically  concluded  every  item  on  the  appropriation  bill,  this 
item  was  presented,  not  only  giving  the  periodical  publishers  no  opportunity  to 
be  heard,  but  giving  the  members  of  the  committee  no  opportunity  to  study  this 
matter  and  to  digest  it.  I  regard  it  as  grossly  unfair,  and  at  the  time  in  the 
committee  I  reserved  the  right  to  oppose  this  amendment  on  thefloorof  the  Senate. 

In  the  affairs  affecting  our  internal  administration  I  am  strongly  opposed  to 
any  secrecy. 


132  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

In  my  judgment,  the  claim  made  by  the  Postoffice  Department  is  erroneous 
on  its  face,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  it  is  conceded  that  these  magazines  are 
brought  by  express  and  distributed  in  Washington,  D  C.,  over  250  miles  from 
New  York,  at  less  than  1  cent  a  pound  for  cost  of  transportation  and  distribution 
The  Postoffice  Department  declares  that  it  costs  9  cents  a  pound.  This  is  a 
mere  juggling  of  figures. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  if  a  proper  weighing  of  the  mails  was  observed,  and  if 
the  railways  were  to  carry  the  mails  at  a  reasonable  rate,  this  distribution  could 
be  made  at  a  cost  approximately  that  which  /  have  named,  as  illustrated  by  the 
cost  of  distribution  in  Washington  City,  which  is  an  undisputed  fact. 

After  presenting  the  publishers'  "Exhibit  A,"  in  which  they 
refute  Mr.  Hitchcock's  unfounded  assertions  of  colossal  profits  in  the 
magazine  publishing  business — a  subject  which  I  treat  elsewhere — the 
Senator  presents  their  "Exhibit  B,"  which  counters  the  Postmaster 
General's  claim  that  the  proposed  increase  in  rate  would  yield  a  large 
revenue  to  the  government.  "Exhibit  B"  reads  as  follows: — 

It  has  been  shown  from  the  original  books  of  account  of  the  five  most  prom 
inent  magazines  that  the  proposed  measure  charging  4  cents  a  pound  postage 
on  all  sheets  of  magazines  on  which  advertising  is  printed  would  tax  these  maga- 
zines, the  most  powerful  group,  best  able  to  meet  such  a  shock,  nearly  the  whole 
of  their  entire  net  income.  This  means  that  the  new  postal  rate  could  not 
be  paid.  There  is  not  money  enough  in  the  magazine  business  to  pay  it.  Maga- 
zines would  simply  be  debarred  from  the  United  States  mails. 

But  assume,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  this  would  not  be  the  case,  and 
that  the  money  could  be  found  to  pay  the  new  postage  bills,  what,  theoretically, 
would  be  the  increased  revenue  of  the  Postoffice  Department,  for  the  sake  of 
which  it  is  proposed  to  take  more  than  all  the  profits  of  the  industry  that  has  been 
built  up  since  1879? 

The  Postmaster  General,  in  his  statement  given  to  the  Associated  Press,  and 
published  in  the  newspapers  Tuesday  morning,  February  14,  claims  that  the 
proposed  postal  increase  on  periodical  advertising  would  amount  to  less  than 
1  cent  flat  on  the  weight  of  the  whole  periodical.  This  is  not  the  way  the  am- 
biguously worded  amendment  works  out  literally ;  but,  accepting  the  Postmaster 
General's  figures  and  applying  them  to  the  weights,  given  in  his  annual  report, 
of  the  second-class  mail  classifications  affected  by  the  increase,  let  us  pin  the 
Postoffice  Department  down  to  what  it  hopes  to  gain  from  a  measure  that  would 
confiscate  the  earnings  of  an  industry. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  in  his  statement  gives  800,000,000  pounds  as  the  total  weight 
of  second-class  matter.  In  his  report  for  1909  he  gives  the  percentage  of  this 
weight  of  the  classifications  that  could  possibly  be  affected  by  this  proposed 
increase  as  20.23  per  cent  for  magazines,  6-4  per  cent  for  educational  publica- 
tions, 5.91  per  cent  for  religious  periodicals,  4.94  per  cent  for  trade  journals, 
and  5  per  cent  for  agricultural  periodicals,  making  42.97  per  cent  altogether  of 
the  800,000,000  pounds  that  might  be  affected  by  the  proposed  increase,  or  343,- 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  133 

760,000  pounds.     Of  course,  this  includes  the  periodicals  publishing  less  than  4,000 
pounds  weight  per  issue,  and  exempted  by  the  amendment. 

But,  making  no  deduction  whatsoever  for  these  exemptions,  and  none  for  the 
great  expense  of  administering  this  complex  measure,  with  its  effect  of  con- 
ferring despotic  power,  certain  to  be  disputed,  the  Postmaster  General  claims 
that  this  figures  out  only  1  cent  increased  revenue  on  343,760,000  pounds,  or 
a  gross  theoretical  gain  to  the  Postoffice  Department  of  $3,437,600.  These  are 
the  Postmaster  General's  figures,  not  the  publishers'. 

But  from  this  figure  of  343,760,000  pounds  the  Postmaster  General  would 
have  to  subtract  the  weight  of  all  the  periodicals  exempted,  and  also  subtract 
all  the  new  expense  involved  for  a  large  force  of  clerks. 

There  will  also  be  a  great  increase  of  work  for  inspectors,  as  the  proposed 
measure  puts  a  premium  on  dishonesty  There  will  be  constant  temptation  for 
unscrupulous  people,  who  try  to  take  the  place  of  the  present  reputable  pub- 
lishers, to  publish  advertising  in  the  guise  of  legitimate  reading  matter.  There 
will  be  extra  legal  expenses  for  the  disputes  that  arise  between  publishers  and 
the  Postoffice  Department  over  matters  in  which  the  publishers  may  believe 
the  department  is  using  the  despotic  power  given  by  this  measure  to  confis- 
cate the  property  of  publishers.  In  the  hearings  before  the  Weeks  committee, 
it  was  frankly  admitted  by  members  of  the  House  Committee  on  Postoffices 
and  Postroads  that  the  government  postoffice  service  could  never  be  run  with  the 
economy  and  efficiency  of  a  private  concern. 

With  all  the  expense  of  this  new  scheme  subtracted  from  such  a  small  pos- 
sible gain  as  is  claimed  by  Mr.  Hitchcock,  what  revenue  would  remain  to  justify 
the  wiping  out  of  an  industry  built  up  in  good  faith  through  thirty-two  years  of 
an  established  fundamental  postoffice  rate? 

If  the  department  succeeded  in  saving  $2,000,000,  after  deducting  the 
exempted  publications  and  all  the  new  expense  involved  for  a  great  force  of  clerks, 
this  would  amount  to  less  than  1  per  cent  of  its  revenues  for  1910.  It  would 
amount  to  less  than  one-eighth  of  the  postoffice  deficit  in  1909.  It  would  amount 
to  less  than  one-fourteenth  of  the  loss  on  rural  free  delivery  alone  in  that  year. 

But  even  this  gain  would  be  only  theoretical ;  for,  as  shown  before  (Exhibit 
A),  many  of  the  comparatively  small  groups  of  periodicals  left  to  be  published, 
after  the  favored  ones  were  exempted,  would  find  that  it  required  more  than  all 
their  income  to  pay  their  share  of  the  new  rate. 

You  can  not  take  away  from  a  person  more  than  100  per  cent  of  all  that  he 
has — even  from  a  publisher.  It  is  not  there. 

These  figures  of  increased  revenue  to  the  government  are  based  on  the 
department's  own  statements.  They  are  mathematically  accurate. 

•They  must  not  be  interpreted,  however,  as  measuring  the  extent  of  publishers' 
losses.  They  take  no  account  of  the  increases,  certain  to  follow  the  enactment 
of  this  legislation,  in  the  rates  of  other  lines  of  distribution  from  which  the 
government  derives  no  revenue.  They  take  no  account  of  the  loss  in  circulation 
volume  that  is  certain  to  follow  an  attempt  to  raise  the  price  of  magazines 


134  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

to  the  public.     They  take  no  account  of  the  loss  in  advertising  revenue  tnat  is 
certain  to  follow  a  loss  in  circulation. 

Neither  are  these  figures  a  complete  record  of  the  effect  on  the  government 
revenue.  They  take  no  account  of  the  certain  destruction  of  publishing  proper- 
ties, and  the  consequent  destruction  of  postal  revenue  on  the  profitable  first-class 
matter  their  advertising  once  created. 

"Postscript:  Since  this  calculation  was  made  and  a  flood  of  tele- 
grams from  agricultural  publications  has  come  to  Congress,  the  after- 
noon newspapers  of  Tuesday,  February  14,  reported  that  at  a  cabinet 
meeting  on  that  day  it  was  decided  by  the  Administration  and 
announced  by  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  that  agricultural 
periodicals  will  be  exempted  from  the  increased  postal  rate.  The 
owners  and  other  representatives  of  agricultural  periodicals  gathered 
in  Washington  to  oppose  the  amendment  to  the  postoffice  appropria- 
tion bill  at  once  left  Washington  for  their  homes.  It  was  reported  at 
the  same  time  that  the  religious  periodicals  had  also  been  assured  that 
a  paternal  Administration  would  take  care  of  them. 

This  leaves  the  situation  in  such  shape  that  the  Administration 
has  at  last  got  down  to  the  comparatively  small  group  of  popular 
magazines. 

These  magazines  proper,  the  Postmaster  General  says,  constitute 
20.23  per  cent  of  second-class  matter,  or  only  162,000,000  pounds,  out 
of  the  800,000,000  pounds  of  second-class  mail. 

As  the  Postmaster  General  says,  as  explained  above,  that  the 
proposed  increase  would  only  mean  1  cent  a  pound  more  on  the  whole 
periodical,  he  could  only  figure  out  a  theoretical  gross  gain  of  $1,620,- 
000.  But  his  figures  are,  as  usual,  all  wrong. 

From  this  $1,620,000,  that  his  figures  come  to,  he  would  have  to 
deduct,  of  course,  the  exempted  periodicals  and  also  all  expenses  of 
administering  the  proposed  new  measure. 

The  pretense  of  raising  second-class  rates  to  do  away  with  the 
postoffice  deficit  therefore  disappears. 

A  few  popular  magazines  are  to  be  punished. 

The  absurdly  unjust  discrimination  involved  in  the  proposed 
increase  of  postal  rates  on  certain  subclasses  of  second-class  mail, 
leaving  the  larger  subclasses,  more  costly  to  the  postoffice,  untouched, 
is  shown  in  Exhibit  C." 

But  how  about  this  new  development,  in  which  the  Postmaster 
General  apparently  decides  from  day  to  day  and  hour  to  hour  as  to 


POSTAL  RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  135 

whether  one  class  of  periodicals  or  another  shall  be  allowed  to  live 
or  made  to  die? 

Has  there  ever  before  been  in  America,  or  in  Russia,  or  in  China, 
a  censor  with  this  power?  If  the  institutions  of  this  country  are  to  be 
so  changed  as  to  give  this  despotic  censorship  to  one  man,  ought 
that  man  to  be  the  official  in  charge  of  the  political  machinery,  as  patron- 
age broker,  of  the  Administration? 

Now,  we  come  to  weights,  and  here  the  publishers  begin  to  talk 
back  a  little.  In  introducing  the  publishers'  "Exhibit  C"  Senator 
Owen  said : 

"It  is  insisted  by  the  Postoffice  Department  that  it  is  entirely  just 
to  increase  the  cost  on  advertisements  in  the  magazines.  I  submit 
their  answer :" 

Why  should  the  Administration  have  gone  to  a  small  20  per  cent  portion  of 
the  second-class  mail  to  increase  postal  rates?  The  Postmaster  General  gives  the 
magazine  weight  as  20  per  cent  of  the  whole  second-class  mail,  and  newspapers 
as  55.73  per  cent.  Why  leave  out  the  largest  classification  entirely  and  concen- 
trate all  the  new  tax  on  a  little  20  per  cent  classification,  which  in  profit-making 
and  tax-bearing  capacity  is  vastly  smaller  than  even  the  figures  of  20  per  cent 
and  55.73  per  cent  indicate? 

The  real  reason  why  the  Administration  concentrated  its  fire  on  the  maga- 
zines is  well  known. 

But  let  us  look  at  the  reasons  given  by  the  Administration — given  hurriedly 
and  weakly,  and  almost  absurdly  easy  to  disprove. 

Why  are  newspapers  exempt  and  magazines  punished  to  the  point  of 
confiscation? 

The  Administration  says  (a)  magazines  carry  more  advertising  than  news- 
papers; (b)  they  cost  the  Postoffice  Department  more  than  newspapers,  because 
they  are  hauled  farther 

(a)  It  is  not  true  that  magazines  carry  more  advertising  than  newspapers. 
By  careful  measuring  the  entire  superficial  area  and  the  advertising  contents, 
respectively,  of  each  of  36  daily  newspapers  and  each  of  54  periodicals — the 
chief  advertising  mediums  of  the  country — it  is  found  that  magazines  averaged 
34.4  per  cent  advertising,  newspapers  averaged  38.08  per  cent  advertising. 

(6)  The  statement  that  magazines  cost  the  Postoffice  Department  more  per 
pound  than  newspapers  is  easily  susceptible  of  final  disproof  from  the  depart- 
ment's own  figures — the  most  extreme  figures  it  has  been  able  to  bring  forward 
in  its  attempts  to  prove  a  case  against  the  magazines. 

The  Postoffice  Department  states  that  owing  to  the  different  average  lengths 
of  haul,  it  costs  5  cents  to  transport  a  pound  of  magazines  and  2  cents  to  trans- 
port a  pound  of  newspapers. 

Admit  that  these  figures,  often  repeated  in  the  department's  reports,  are 


136  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

correct.     Let  us  see  how  the  final  cost  of  service  for  a  pound  of  magazines  looks 
beside  the  final  cost  of  service  to  a  pound  of  newspapers. 

Besides  the  cost  of  transporting  mail,  figured  of  course  by  weight  and  length 
of  haul,  there  are  three  huge  factors  of  cost,  apportioned  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  pieces  of  mail — rural  free  delivery,  railway-mail  service,  and  postoffice 
service  (Postoffice  Department  pamphlet,  "Cost  of  transporting  and  hauling 
the  several  classes  of  mail  matter,"  1910). 

TRANSPORTATION   COST   OP   MAGAZINES  AND   NEWSPAPERS. 

By  weighing  carefully  the  representative  magazine,  every  copy  of  a  year's 
issue  of  64  leading  magazines,  and  by  weighing  60  different  classes  of  news- 
papers, daily  and  Sunday,  the  postal  committee  of  the  Periodical  Publishers' 
Association  has  found  that  the  magazine  weighs,  on  the  average,  12,3  ounces 
and  the  newspaper  8.92  ounces. 

The  Postmaster  General's  report  for  1909  furnishes  the  total  pounds  of 
second  class  mail — 764,801,370 — and  the  proportion  of  newspapers  and  maga- 
zines in  this  weight — 55.73  per  cent  and  20.23  per  cent,  respectively. 

This  gives  154,719,317  pounds  of  magazines  in  the  mails  and  426,223,803 
pounds  of  newspapers. 

The  cost  of  transporting  these,  by  the  Postoffice  Department's  figures,  is  5 
cents  a  pound  for  transporting  magazines  and  2  cents  a  pound  for  transport- 
ing newspapers,  making  $7,735,965.85  for  hauling  magazines  and  $8,524.476.06 
for  hauling  newspapers. 

THE   HANDLING   COST 

But  the  department  says  specifically,  in  the  pamphlet  referred  to  above,  that 
the  handling  cost  it  apportions  according  to  the  number  of  pieces,  in  three  classi- 
fications of  expense — the  railway  mail  service,  rural  free  delivery,  and  post- 
office  service.  The  total  cost  of  these  items  charged  against  second-class  matter 
is  (Postmaster  General's  report,  1909),  $39,818,583.86. 

The  total  number  of  pieces  of  second-class  mail  handled  was  3,695,594,448 
(H.  Doc.  910,  "Weighing  of  the  Mails.") 

Newspapers,  averaging  3.92  ounces  each,  and  weighing  in  the  mails  alto- 
gether 426,223,803  pounds,  furnished  1,740,000,000  pieces  to  handle  (taking 
round  millions,  which  would  not  affect  the  percentages),  or  47.17  per  cent  of  all 
second-class  pieces. 

The  154,719,317  pounds  of  magazines,  weighing  12.3  ounces  each,  furnished 
201,260,000  pieces  to  handle,  or  5.44  per  cent  of  all  second-class  pieces. 

Figuring  these  piece  percentages  on  $39.818,583,86,  the  expense  which  the 
department  says  should  be  apportioned  according  to  the  number  of  pieces,  and 
•which  it  does  so  apportion,  we  have  the  handling  cost  on  the  154,719,317  pounds 
of  magazines  $2,166,139.96,  or  1.4  cents  per  pound. 

The  newspaper-handling  cost  would  be  55.73  per  cent  of  $39.818,583.86, 
or  $28,782,425.10,  which,  divided  by  the  total  of  newspaper  pounds,  gives  us  the 
handling  cost  of  a  pound  of  newspapers  6.76  cents. 

THE   NET   RESULT. 

So,  using  the  department's  own  figures  and  methods  of  figuring,  we  have  the 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  137 

cost  of  hauling  and  handling  magazines,  5  cents  plus  1.4  cents,  or  6.4  cents;  the 
cost  of  hauling  and  handling  newspapers,  2  cents  plus  6.75  cents,  or  8.75  cents. 

This  shows  that  -without  going  into  the  miscellaneous  expenditures  at  all,  which 
would  slightly  further  increase  the  cost  of  newspapers  as  compared  with  magazines, 
the  department's  own  figures  show  that  it  is  losing  on  the  fundamental  operations 
of  hauling  and  handling  7.75  cents  a  pound  on  426,223,803  pounds  of  newspapers, 
or  $33,032,844.73,  as  against  losing  6.4  cents  a  pound  on  154,719,317  pounds  of 
magazines,  or  $8,354,843.11. 

With  a  loss,  according  to  its  own  figures,  over  400  per  cent  as  great  on 
newspapers  as  on  magazines,  the  department  goes  to  the  magazines,  of  scarcely 
one-third  the  weight  of  newspapers,  and  with  not  one-twentieth  the  financial 
ability  to  pay  such  a  new  tax,  to  meet  the  whole  burden  of  its  futile  and  confisca- 
tory  attempt  to  reduce  the  deficit. 

Furthermore,  the  advertising  in  magazines,  which  the  department  proposes 
to  tax  out  of  existence,  is  the  very  national  mail-order  advertising  that  produces 
the  profitable  revenue,  as  against  the  local  announcements  in  the  newspapers 
of  the  class  of  page  department-store  advertisements,  etc.,  which  do  not  call  for 
answers  through  the  mails  under  first-class  postage  (see  Exhibit  F). 

And,  still  further,  the  modern  newspaper  of  large  circulation  is  more  of  a 
magazine,  as  distinguished  from  a  paper  chiefly  devoted  to  disseminating  news 
and  intelligence  and  discussion  of  public  affairs,  than  the  modern  magazine. 
Compare  the  "magazine  sections"  of  the  large  newspapers  (and  most  of  the 
balance  of  their  Sunday  issues),  with  publications  like  the  Review  of  Reviews, 
World's  Work,  Current  Literature,  Literary  Digest,  Collier's  Weekly,  or  even 
with  Everybody's,  the  American,  the  Cosmopolitan  and  McClure's,  to  see  the  ob- 
vious truth  of  this  statement. 

I  have  marked  the  fourth  from  last  paragraph  of  the  publishers' 
"Exhibit  C"  to  be  set  in  italics.  I  did  so  for  fear  the  hurried  reader 
might  gather  a  wrong  impression  from  its  wording.  The  publishers 
do  not  mean  to  say  that  it  costs  the  government  7.75  cents  a  pound  to 
carry  and  handle  newspapers,  nor  5.4  cents  a  pound  to  carry  and 
handle  magazines.  It  is  a  known  fact  that  both  the  newspapers  and 
the  magazines  can  be  carried  and  handled  by  the  government  at  a  profit 
at  $20.00  a  ton — at  the  cent-a-pound  rate.  Mr.  Hitchcock  asserted 
in  the  official  brochure  to  which  the  publishers  are  here  making  reply, 
I  take  it,  that  second-class  mail  hauling  and  handling  costs  9.23  cents 
a  pound.  In  this  "Exhibit  C,"  the  publishers  are  proving  that,  even 
if  his  absurd  claim  as  to  cost  were  true,  his  method  of  apportioning  that 
cost  between  newspapers  and  other  periodicals  is  grossly  unfair,  as 
well  as  ridiculously  wrong  mathematically. 

Then  Mr.  Hitchcock,  or  his  department,  suggests  that  the  maga- 
zines meet  the  added  charge  put  upon  them  for  haul  and  handling  by 


138  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

increasing  their  sale  price.  That  is,  let  the  five,  ten  or  fifteen-cent 
weeklies  ring  up  five  cents  more  per  copy  on  subscribed  and  news 
stand  prices — make  the  readers  pay  it.  Let  the  monthlies  do  like- 
wise. 

That  suggestion  carries  a  sort  of  familiar  resonance.  "Make  the 
rate  (tariff)  what  the  traffic  will  stand." 

Ever  hear  of  it  ?  If  you  have  not,  then  you  must  have  arrived 
as  a  mission  child  in  the  Chinese  or  Hindoostanese  "field  of  effort," 
and  have  lived  there  until  the  week  before  last. 

Ring  up  the  revenues  and  make  the  dear  people  pay  it  in  added 
purchase  price! 

The  people  have  a  few  dollars  stored  away  in  savings  accounts  or 
stockings,  and  if  they  want  a  thing  they  will  broach  their  hoardings. 
They  have  the  money.  We  want  it. 

One  of  the  surest  and  easiest  ways  to  get  it  is  to  make  them  pay 
more  for  what  they  consider  essentials  to  their  subsistence,  to  the  com- 
forts and  the  pleasures  of  their  lives.  They  have  been  buying  some 
splendid  monthly  periodicals  at  twelve  and  a  half  cents  to  fifteen  cents. 
If  they  want  them,  why  not  make  'em  pay  twenty  or  twenty-five 
cents? 

Yes,  why  not?     It's  the  people,  and — well — 

"To  hell  with  the  people." 

For  four  decades  or  more  of  our  history,  that  "official"  opinion 
of  the  "dear  people"  has  delivered  the  goods.  The  Congress,  or 
certain  "fixed"  members  of  it,  told  us  that  we  needed,  in  order  to  be 
entirely  prosperous  and  happy,  a  tariff  on  "raw"  wool,  "raw"  cotton, 
"raw"  hides,  "raw"  sugar  and  several  other  "raws,"  assuring  us  that 
such  action  would  greatly  inure  to  our  benefit. 

They  lied,  of  course.  But  it  took  us  fool  people  a  generation  or 
more  to  find  out  that  fact.  In  that  generation,  the  liars  gathered 
multiplied  millions  of  unearned  wealth  and  passed  it  into  the  hands  of 
"innocent  holders,"  most  of  whom,  if  our  court  news  columns  are 
correct,  have  been  spending  it  to  get  away  from  the  trousered  or  the 
skirted  heirs  they  married. 

The  point,  however,  I  desire  to  make  here  is  that  while  this 
varied  and  various  "raw"  talk  was  being  ladled  to  us — and  most  of  us 
ordering  a  second  serving — our  patriotic  friends  in  positions  of  legis- 
lative authority,  and  our  commercial  and  business  "friends"  who 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  139 

steered  the  "raw"  talk,  had  "cornered"  all  the  home-grown  raw  and 
were  selling  us  the  manufactured  product  at  two  prices. 

But  this  is  aside.  I  inject  it  here  merely  to  illustrate  how 
easily  and  continuously  we  fool  people  are  fooled. 

Postmaster  General  Hitchcock's  prattle  about  the  publishers 
recouping  themselves  by  lifting  the  price  on  us  is  of  a  kind  with  all 
the  other  "raw"  talk  which  has  looted  us  for  forty  or  more  years. 

We  buy  a  better  periodical — say  a  monthly — for  fifteen  cents 
today  than  we  got  for  fifty  cents  thirty  years  ago. 

Not  only  that:  The  fifteen-center  tells  us  of  our  wrongs,  of 
how  we  were  and  are  wronged  and  of  how  we  may  right  the  wrongs. 
The  fifty-center  of  thirty  years  ago  told  us  largely  of  things  which 
entertained  us — things  historically,  geographically,  geologically, 
astronomically,  psychically  or  similarly  informative  and  instructive. 
They  told  us  little  or  nothing  of  how  we  were  misgoverned — of  how 
misgovernment  saps  and  loots  and  degenerates  a  people.  That  function 
of  periodical  education  was  left  largely  to  the  five,  ten  and  fifteen- 
centers  of  the  present  day — periodicals  of  price  within  reach  of  limited 
means  and  of  a  large,  rapidly  growing  desire  to  know. 

See  the  point?     "No"?    Well,  then  don't  go  to  arguing. 

If  you  do  not  see  the  point,  just  sit  up  and  shake  yourself  loose 
a  little. 

"A  little  wisdom  is  a  dangerous  thing";  "For  much  wisdom  is 
much  grief,"  and  similar  old  saws  which  truth-perverters  glossed  into 
sacred  or  classic  texts.  The  people  are  gathering  "wisdom"  from 
these  low-priced,  carefully-written,  independent  periodicals — periodi- 
cals which  tell  the  "raw"  truth.  It  is  dangerous.  They  will  hurt 
themselves.  We  vested-interests  people  and  "innocent  holders" 
must  set  up  some  hurdles;  must  keep  the  dear,  earning  people  from 
learning  too  much — from  learning  what  we  know.  Their  chief  source 
of  enlightenment  are  the  cheap,  attractive,  instructive,  independent 
periodicals.  Our  first  act  should  be  to  cut  down— or  cut  out — this 
source  of  supply. 

Then  the  dear  people  will  come  back  and  read  what  we  hire 
written  for  them,  and  then — 

Well,  then  the  dear  earners  of  dollars  for  us  will  not  "learn 
wisdom"  enough  to  hurt  them  or — us. 

But,  getting  back  to  Mr.  Hitchcock's  reported  suggestion,  in 


140  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

effect,  to  advance  the  subscription  or  selling  price  of  the  magazines 
and  others  of  the  "few"  periodicals  that  would  be  affected  by    his 
proposed  "rider"  legislation.     I  shall  call  attention  to  but  one  basic 
fact  which  his  suggestion  covers — intendedly  or  not,    I  know  not. 
To  me,  it  appears  better  to  do  this  by  a  few  direct  statements. 

1.  An  advance  of  two  or  five  cents  a  pound  on  the  people's 
subsistence  supplies — meats,  vegetables,  etc. — or  on  a  yard  of  textile 
fabric  they  must  have  to  cover  or  shelter  their  nakedness,  will  be 
met  by  them  as  long  as  they  can  dig  up,  or  dig  out,  the  funds  to  buy. 

2.  A  corresponding  advance  in  the  price  of  some  desired,  or  even 
needed,  article  which  is  not  absolutely  necessary  to  subsist,  clothe  or 
shelter  them    will  induce,  them  to  hesitate  before  purchasing — will 
often  lead  to  an  exercise  of  self-denial  which  refuses  to  make  the 
purchase — refuses,  not  because  they  do  not  want  the  article,  but 
because  they  cannot  afford  it  by  reason  of  pressing  subsistence  needs. 

That  these  rules  of  domestic  economy  apply  to  the  sale  and  circu- 
lation of  periodicals  was  quite  conclusively  shown  to  Mr.  Hitchcock 
by  the  publishers.  Senator  Owens  adverts  to  this  point  as  follows : 

"It  has  been  suggested  that  the  magazines  could  collect  the 
additional  cost  imposed  on  them  by  raising  the  price  of  their  maga- 
zines." 

He  then  quotes  "Exhibit  D"  of  the  publishers  in  reply: 

It  has  been  shown  (Exhibit  A)  from  the  original  books  of  account  of  the 
chief  magazine  properties  that  the  measure  providing  for  a  new  postal  rate  of  4 
cents  a  pound  on  all  magazine  sheets  on  which  advertising  is  printed  would  wipe 
out  the  magazine  industry — would  require  more  money  than  the  publishers  make 

Could  not  the  burden  be  passed  on  to  advertisers  or  subscribers,  or  to  both? 

WHY   ADVERTISERS  WOULD   NOT  TAKE   THE   BURDEN. 

Magazine  advertisers  buy  space  at  so  much  a  thousand  circulation.  The 
magazine  is  required  to  state  its  circulation  and  show  that  the  rate  charged  per 
line  is  fair.  Some  advertisers  go  so  far  as  to  insist  on  contracts  which  provide 
that  if  the  circulation  during  the  life  of  the  contract  falls  below  the  guaranteed 
figures  they  will  receive  a  pro  rata  rebate  from  the  publisher. 

In  view  of  the  small  net  profits  of  the  industry — it  is  shown  in  Exhibit  A 
that  the  combined  final  profits  of  the  five  leading  standard  magazines  of  America 
are  less  than  one-tenth  of  their  total  advertising  income — it  is  clear  that  the  pub- 
lisher must  be  trying  always  to  get  as  large  a  rate  as  possible  for  the  advertising 
space  he  sells,  and  it  is  absolutely  true  that  he  has  already  got  this  rate  up  to  the 
very  maximum  the  traffic  will  bear. 

Advertisers  would  not  think  of  paying  more  than  they  are  now  paying  for 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 


141 


the  same  service.  Some  of  them  would  use  circulars  under  the  third-class  postal 
rate,  which  the  Postmaster  General  says  is  unprofitable  to  his  department.  Most 
advertisers  would  simply  find  this  market  for  their  wares  gone,  and  the  thousands 
of  people — artists,  clerks,  traveling  men — engaged  in  the  business  of  magazine 
advertising  would  lose  their  means  of  livelihood. 

There  is  no  possible  hope  that  the  advertiser  will  pay  the  bill. 

WOULD  THE   SUBSCRIBER  PAY  THE   INCREASED   POSTAL  RATE? 

The  4  cents  a  pound  rate  on  advertising  would  require  an  advance  of  ap- 
proximately 50  per  cent  in  subscription  prices  if  the  publisher  is  to  recoup  himself 
by  raising  the  cost  of  living  to  the  public  in  its  consumption  of  magazines. 

Would  the  public  pay  50  per  cent  more  for  the  same  article? 

The  question  is  answered  eloquently  and  finally  by  the  subscription  records 
of  the  magazines  that  were  forced  to  increase  their  rates  on  Canadian  subscrip- 
tions when  Canada  enforced  a  4-cent  rate  on  American  periodicals.  As  the  dis- 
criminatory rate  was  later  withdrawn  in  certain  cases,  we  have  a  complete  cycle 
of  record  and  proof.  First,  the  Canadian  subscription  list  before  the  increase; 
second,  the  Canadian  subscription  list  after  the  increased  postal  rate  and  increased 
subscription  price  to  the  Canadian  public;  third,  the  Canadian  subscription  list 
after  the  postal  rate  and  the  subscription  price  to  the  public  had  been  restored 
to  the  original  status. 

HERE   IS  THE   RECORD   OF  THE   REVIEW  OF   REVIEWS. 

In  June,  1907,  the  Review  of  Reviews  began  to  pay  4  cents  a  pound  postage 
on  Canadian  subscriptions,  instead  of  1  cent,  and  was  forced  to  raise  its  Canadian 
subscription  price  from  $3  to  $3.50  a  year. 

Its  Canadian  yearly  subscribers  in  July,  1907,  numbered  2,973. 

At  once  the  subscription  list  began  to  fall  off,  and  continued  to  do  so  steadily 
until  in  January,  1910,  it  had  come  down  to  904  names. 

Early  in  1910  the  Review  of  Reviews  was  readmitted  into  the  Canadian  post- 
office  at  1  cent  a  pound,  its  subscription  was  reduced  to  the  old  figure  of  $3,  and 
the  Canadian  list  quickly  "came  back,"  having  reached  already  in  February, 
1911,  the  figure  of  2,690  annual  subscribers. 

Below  follows  the  detailed  record,  eloquent  of  what  would  happen  if  the 
prices  of  popular  American  magazines  were  increased  50  per  cent  to  the  public. 
In  this  Canadian  incident  the  price  of  the  Review  of  Reviews  was  increased  only 
16  2-3  per  cent  and  the  circulation  fell  off  69  per  cent. 

REVIEW  OF   REVIEWS — CANADIAN   SUBSCRIBERS. 


June,  1907,  began  to  pay  extra 

postage 2,840 

July,  1907 2,973 

August,  1907 2,921 

September,  1907 2,875 

October,  1907 2,761 

November,  1907 2,604 

December,  1907 2,260 


January,  1908 1,536 

February,  1908 1,330 

March,  1908 1,170 

April,  1908 1,350 

May,  1908. 1,300 

June,  1908....... 1,363 

July,  1908 1,360 

August,  1908 1,407 


142  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 


September,  1908 1,348 

October,  1908 1,357 

November,  1908 1,381 

December,  1908 1,299 

January,  1909 1,095 

February,  1909 1,163 

March,  1909 1,263 

April,  1909 1,321 

May,  1909 1,355 

June,  1909 1,353 


July,  1909 1,369 

August,  1909 1,371 

September,  1909 1,382 

October,  1909 1,237 

November,  1909 1,278 

December,  1909 1,227 

January,  1910 904 

February,  1910 974 

March,  1910 1,129 

February,  1911 2,690 


The  next  exhibit  ("Exhibit  E")  of  the  publishers  shows  quite 
conclusively  "that  it  would  be  ruinous  to  them  to  raise  the  rates  in 
the  manner  proposed,"  and  Senator  Owen  presents  their  plea. 

I  am  going  to  reprint  here  their  plea  as  presented  in  "Exhibit 
E,"  but  in  doing  so  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  desires  to  remark  that  the 
argument,  as  it  has  been  megaphoned  into  our  ears  for  the  past  three 
or  four  decades,  that  an  increase  of  tax  rate  (whatever  the  nature  of 
the  tax),  or  a  reduction  of  the  tariff  or  selling  rate  would  be  "ruinous," 
does  not  cut  much  kindling  in  his  intellectual  woodshed.  It  has  been 
entirely  a  too  common  yodle  either  to  interest  or  to  instruct  any 
intelligent  man  who  has  been  watching  the  play  and  listening  to  the 
concert  for  forty  years.  This  "ruinous"  talk  has  been  out  of  the  cut 
glass,  Louis  XVI,  Dore,  Dolesche  and  other  high-art  classes  ever  since 
Mrs.  Vanderbilt,  as  was  alleged,  discovered  that  Chauncey  M.  Depew 
was  merely  her  husband's  servant,  just  as  was  her  coachman. 

If  there  is  a  congressional  murmur  or  a  legislative  growl  about 
cutting  down  a  rail  rate,  the  rail  men  immediately  set  the  welkin 
a-ring  with  a  howl  about  "ruin."  If  someone  rises  with  vocal  noise 
enough  to  be  heard  in  protest  against  paying  29  cents  a  pound  for 
Belteschazzar's  "nut-fed,"  "sugar-cured,"  "embalmed"  hams  and 
insists  that  they  should  be  on  the  market  everywhere  at  not  to  exceed 
23  cents,  Bel.  and  his  cohorts  will  immediately  curdle  all  the  milk  in 
the  country  with  a  noise  about  ruin !  ruin!  RUIN  ! 

If  some  statesman  rises  in  his  place  and  offers  an  amendment 
reducing  the  tariff  on  "K,"  or  cotton,  or  sugar;  or  providing  that  the 
government  shall  build  two  instead  of  four  "first-class"  battleships, 
the  bugles  are  all  turned  loose  tooting  "ruin"  for  the  "wool,"  the 
"cotton,"  the  "shipbuilding"  or  other  industry  affected,  as  the  case 
may  be,  and  "ruin"  will  be  spread  and  splattered  in  printers'  ink  all 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  143 

over  the  country.  No,  your  Man  on  the  Ladder  does  not  have  much 
respect  for  this  "ruin"  talk,  as  it  is  usually  "stumped"  and  "space- 
written"  for  us  commoners  in  the  industrial  walks  of  life  and  in  its 
marts  of  trade.  But  when  he  hears  that  warning  sounded  by  men 
engaged  in  a  business  industry  with  which  he  himself  is  fairly  familiar 
— a  business  he  himself  has  several  times  had  to  put  forth  strenuous 
effort  to  "lighter"  over  financial  shoals  or  "spar-off"  monetary  reefs — 
when  it  comes  to  talk  of  "ruin"  among  men  engaged  in  the  business 
of  publishing  periodical  literature  in  this  country,  why,  then,  he  gets 
down  off  the  ladder  and  listens. 

There  are  two  special  and  specific  reasons  why  every  commoner — 
every  earner — should  listen  to  the  publishers'  arguments  in  proof  that 
Mr.  Hitchcock's  proposal  means  ruin  to  many  of  them — some  of 
even  the  strongest  and  best. 

1.  An  increase  of  three  hundred  per  cent,  as  the  Postmaster 
General  sought  in  his  "rider"  (though  somewhat  covertly),  in  the 
carriage  cost  and  delivery  (rail  or  other)  of  its  product  would  ruin 
almost  any  established  business  there  is  in  this  country,  if  such  in- 
crease was  forced  in  the  limited  time  named  in  that  "rider."     A 
suddenly  enforced  increase  of  even  one  hundred  per  cent  in  the  haul- 
age and  delivery  cost  of  product  would  put  hundreds  of  our  most 
serviceable  industries  on  the  financial  rocks. 

2.  A  business  man  or  a  business  industry  that  has  been  giving  us 
thirty  cents  in  manufacturing  cost  for  our  fifteen  cents  in  cash  is  certain- 
ly deserving  not  only  of  a  hearing  but  of  a  vigorous,  robust,  militant 
support. 

That  the  periodical  publishers  of  this  country  are  doing  just  that 
thing — have  been  doing  it  for  the  past  twelve  to  twenty  years — no  honest 
periodical  reader  who  is  at  all  familiar  with  the  cost  of  production 
will  attempt  to  deny. 

That  is  sufficient  reason  for  presenting  here  the  "Exhibit  E"  of 
the  publishers: 

We  point  to  the  history  of  deficits  in  the  Postoffice  Department  since  1879, 
when  the  pound  rate  of  payment  was  established  for  second-class  matter. 
The  question  at  the  head  of  this  exhibit  is  answered  by  the  successive  changes 
in  the  size  of  the  deficit,  compared  with  coincident  changes  in  the  volume  of 
second-class  mail. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  largest  percentage  of  deficit  in  the  past  40  years 
occurred  before  the  pound  rate  of  2  cents  was,  in  1879,  established  for  second- 


144  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

class  matter ;  that  the  percentage  of  deficit  decreased  with  great  rapidity  as  soon 
as  second-class  matter,  under  the  stimulus  of  the  new  pound  rate,  began  to 
increase  rapidly ,  that  this  decrease  in  the  deficit  -was  accelerated  after  t\ie  second- 
class  rate  was  lowered,  in  1885,  to  the  present  rate  of  1  cent  a  pound,  and  after  second- 
class  matter  liad  increased  beyond  any  figure  hitherto  dreamed  of ;  that  the  decrease 
in  percentage  of  deficit  continued,  coincidently  with  the  increase  in  volume  of 
second-class  mail,  until  1902,  when  large  appropriations  began  for  rural  free 
delivery  service.  Then  deficits  began  to  grow  as  the  specified  loss  on  rural  free 
delivery  grew.  In  the  last  fiscal  year,  1910,  when  the  rural  free  delivery  loss 
remained  nearly  stationary,  as  against  1909,  the  deficit  decreased  by  approxi- 
mately $11,500,000  to  the  lowest  percentage  but  one  in  27  years,  although  in  this 
same  year  second-class  matter  made  the  largest  absolute  gain  ever  known,  amounting 
to  98,000,000  pounds  more  than  in  1909. 

We  submit  that  so  many  coincidences,  taken  over  a  whole  generation,  and 
observed  in  relation  to  the  enormous  production  of  profitable  first-class  postage 
through  magazine  advertising,  raise  the  strongest  presumption  that  the  larger  the 
volume  of  second-class  mail  becomes  the  more  fully  the  postoffice  plant  is  worked 
to  its  capacity  in  carrying  newspapers  and  periodicals  and  the  first  and  third  class 
mail  their  advertising  engenders,  and  the  smaller  becomes  the  deficit,  other  things 
being  equal. 

The  other  thing  that  is  not  equal  is  the  new  expenditures,  unprofitable  in 
the  postoffice  balance  sheets  for  rural  free  delivery.  According  to  the  Postmaster 
General's  report  there  is  in  1910  a  surplus  of  over  $23,000,000  outside  the  specific 
loss  on  rural  free  delivery.  A  chief  reason  why  the  Postoffice  Department  has 
this  $29,000,000  to  lose  on  rural  free  delivery  is  that  periodical  advertising,  and 
the  enormous  postal  business  it  generates,  has  long  ago  extinguished  the  deficit 
and  given  the  huge  surplus  to  spend  for  a  beneficent  but  financially  unprofitable 
purpose. 

But  one  thing  is  proved  beyond  any  shadow  of  doubt  by  this  history  of 
decreasing  postoffice  deficits  and  coincident  increases  in  second-class  mail,  and 
that  is,  that  the  deficit  can  be  reduced  with  an  ever-increasing  body  of  second-class 
mail,  carried  at  one  cent  a  pound.  It  can  be,  because  the  record  shows  it  was. 

Below  is  a  fuller  history  of  postoffice  deficits  and  second-class  increases: 

THE    FACTS   AS  TO   DEFICITS   AND   SECOND-CLASS   MATTER. 

The  annual  reports  of  the  Postmaster  General  are  the  authority  for  the  fol- 
lowing figures: 

In  the  year  1870  there  was  a  deficit  in  the  operations  of  the  United  States 
Postoffice  Department  of  21.4  per  cent  of  its  turnover. 

In  1879  there  was  passed  the  act  that  put  second-class  matter  on  a  pound- 
payment  basis.  An  immediate  increase  in  second-class  matter  began. 

In  1880  there  was  a  deficit  in  the  postoffice  operations  of  only  9.6  per  cent 
of  its  business. 

In  1885  was  passed  the  law  that  made  the  rate  for  second-class  matter  1  cent 
a  pound,  which  still  further  increased  second-class  mail.  It  trebled  in  the  decade 
preceding  1890. 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  145 

In  1890  the  deficit  in  the  operations  of  the  Postoffice  Department  was  8.8 
per  cent. 

The  next  decade  brought  a  much  larger  increase  in  second-class  matter  than 
any  previous  10  years— from  174,053,910  pounds  in  1890  to  382,538.999  pounds 
in  1900. 

The  deficit  in  the  postoffice  operations  in  the  year  1900  was  5.2  per  cent  of 
its  business. 

In  the  prosperous  years  following  1900  the  increase  of  second-class  matter 
was  stupendous;  from  382,  538,999  pounds  in  1900  to  488,246,903  pounds  in  1902, 
only  two  years.  The  increase  of  advertising  in  the  magazines  was  even  greater 
than  the  increase  in  second-class  matter.  These  years  brought  the  great  forward 
movement  in  the  production  of  low  priced  but  well  edited  magazines,  made  possible 
by  large  advertising  incomes,  and  also  in  the  increase  in  circulation  by  extensive 
combination  book  offers,  and  so-called  "clubbing"  arrangements,  by  which  the 
subscriber  could  purchase  three  or  more  magazines  together  at  a  lower  price  than 
the  aggregate  of  their  list  prices. 

In  1901  there  was  a  deficit  in  the  postoffice  operations  of  only  3.5  per  cent 
of  its  business. 

In  1902  the  deficit  for  the  postoffice  operations  was  2.4  per  cent,  the  smallest 
percentage  of  deficit  in  18  years  and  the  smallest  but  two  in  40  years. 

RURAL   FREE    DELIVERY   STEPS   IN. 

But  in  this  year  is  seen  for  the  first  time,  in  important  proportions,  a  new 
item  of  expense,  $4,000,000  for  rural  free  delivery.  Our  government  had  wisely 
and  beneficently  extended  the  service  of  the  postoffice  to  farmers  in  isolated 
communities,  regardless  of  the  expense  of  so  doing.  The  report  of  the  Post- 
master General  for  1902  says:  "It  will  be  seen  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  large 
expenditure  on  account  of  rural  free  delivery,  the  receipts  would  have  exceeded 
the  expenditures  by  upward  of  $1,000,000." 

It  will  be  clear,  from  these  figures,  which  are  taken  from  the  reports  of  the 
Postmaster  General,  that  beginning  with  the  advent  of  the  second-class  pound-rate 
system,  the  deficit  of  the  postoffice  has  steadily  declined,  the  rate  of  decrease  being 
always  coincident  with  the  expansion  of  circulation  and  advertising  of  periodicals, 
until  in  1902  there  was  a  substantial  surplus,  which  the  government  wisely  saw 
fit  to  use  for  a  purpose  not  related  to  the  needs  of  magazines  and  periodicals  or  to  their 
expansion. 

A   REAL  SURPLUS  OP   OVER   $74,000,000   IN   NINE   YEARS. 

Since  1902  there  has  always  been  a  surplus  in  the  operations  of  the  Postoffice 
Department,  outside  of  the  money  the  Government  has  seen  fit  to  expend  for  rural 
free  delivery,  (wisely,  and  otherwise  wastefully.)  In  the  present  year,  1910,  the 
report  of  the  Postmaster  General  shows  a  surplus  of  over  $23,000,000  outside  the 
loss  on  the  rural  free  delivery  service  of  $29,000,000.  The  years  1902  to  1910 
have  each  shown  a  surplus  in  the  postoffice  profit  and  loss  account,  the  nine  years 
aggregating  over  $74,000,000,  outside  the  actual  loss  on  the  rural  free  delivery 
system. 

How  enormously  second-class  mail  aids  the  department's  finances  by  origin- 


146  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

ating  profitable  first-class  postage  can  be  appreciated  by  referring  to  the  specific 
examples  in  Exhibit  F. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  turning  of  large  deficits  into  actual  surv 
pluses,  which  has  come  coincidently  with  the  expansion  of  second-class  mail,  of 
circulation  pushing,  and  of  advertising,  has  come  in  spite  of  an  enormous  expansion 
in  governmental  mail,  carried  free,  and  Congressional  mail,  franked,  which  has  not 
been  credited  to  the  postoffice  at  all  in  calculating  the  actual  surplus  shown  above. 

Next  the  publishers  come  forward  with  "Exhibit  F."  Their 
"Exhibit  F"  is  not  merely  an  "exhibit."  It  is  an  exhibition,  with  a 
three-ring  circus,  a  menagerie  and  moving  pictures  as  a  "side." 
Candidly,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  it  was  this  "Exhibit  F"  of  the 
publishers  which  induced  our  friend,  the  Postmaster  General,  to 
loosen  the  clutch  on  his  mental  gear. 

Of  course,  it  is  possible  Mr.  Hitchcock  did  not,  nor  has  not,  read 
this  "F"  of  the  publishers.  If  such  a  misfortune  has  cast  its  shadow 
across  his  promising  career,  I  regret  it. 

"Why?" 

Well,  to  anyone  anxiously  interested  in  dissipating,  or  removing, 
the  federal  postoffice  "deficit,"  the  reading  of  the  publishers'  "F" 
should  be  most  entertaining. 

That  F  of  the  publishers  most  certainly  presents  some  facts 
which  any  man,  unless  he  is  a  fool,  as  some  descriptive  artist  has 
appropriately  put  it,  in  an  "elaborate,  broad,  beautiful  and  compre- 
hensive sense,"  must  appreciate. 

Senator  Owen  introduced  "Exhibit  F"  of  the  publishers  in 
necessarily,  and  of  course,  dignified  form — a  form  in  keeping  with  the 
exalted  position  he  holds  and  worthily  fills.  Your  uncle  on  the  ladder, 
however,  is  not,  as  you  may  possibly  have  already  discovered,  re- 
strained by  any  code  de  luxe  as  to  his  forms  of  speech  or  as  to  their 
edge. 

The  publishers  in  their  Exhibit  "F"  show  and,  as  I  have  said, 
show  conclusively,  that  the  advertising  pages  in  periodicals  (news- 
papers or  other),  are  the  pages  which  support — -which  pay  the  bills — 
of  the  Postoffice  Department  of  these  United  States. 

I  would  ask  the  reader  to  keep  that  last  statement  in  mind,  for, 
in  spite  of  the  Postmaster  General's  voluminous,  cushion-tired  con- 
versation and  automatic  comptometer  figuring,  the  publishers 
furnish  ample  evidence  in  proof  that  the  statement  just  made  is  safe 
and  away  inside  the  truth. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  147 

Oh,  yes,  of  course,  I  remember  that  Solomon  or  some  other  wise 
man  of  ancient  times  has  said  "all  men  are  liars."  That  was 
possibly,  even  probably,  true  of  the  men  of  his  day.  It  may  also  be 
admitted  without  prejudice,  I  trust,  to  either  party  to  this  case,  that 
there  is  a  numerous  body  of  trousered  liars  scattered  in  and  along  the 
various  walks  of  life  even  at  this  late  date.  So,  there  appears  to  be 
no  valid  reason  nor  grounds  to  question  the  veracity  of  Solomon,  or 
whoever  the  ancient  witness  was,  when  he  testified,  to  the  best  of  his 
knowledge  and  belief,  that  all  men  are  prevaricators.  However,  I 
desire  in  this  connection  to  have  the  reader  understand  that  The 
Man  on  the  Ladder  is  of  the  opinion  there  are  a  few  men  on  earth  now, 
whatever  the  condition  and  proclivities  of  their  remote  ancestors 
may  have  been,  who  have  an  ingrown  desire  or  predisposition  to 
tell  the  truth. 

This  view  of  the  genus  homo  is  warranted,  if  indeed  not  sup- 
ported, by  the  plainly  and  frequently  observed  fact  that  in  almost 
every  recorded  instance  where  the  truth  serves  a  purpose  better  than 
a  lie,  the  truth  gets  into  the  testimony. 

The  Man  on  the  Ladder  also  believes  there  are  men — bunches  of 
men — in  this  our  day  who  will  tell  us  the  truth  whether  they  can 
afford  to  do  so  or  not. 

I  have  given  this  "aside,"  if  the  reader  will  kindly  so  consider  it, 
to  the  end  of  calling  to  his  attention  two  points,  namely: 

^First,  There  are  probably  just  as  many  truth  tellers,  likewise 
liars,  in  the  world  today  as  there  were  in  olden  times. 

Second,  There  is  probably  just  as  high  a  moral  code — just  as 
high  a  standard  and  practice  of  veracity — among  the  periodical 
publishers  of  this  country  as  there  is  among  officials  of  the  Federal 
Postoffice  Department. 

I  am  of  opinion  that  few,  indeed,  among  my  readers  will  be  found 
to  question  the  fairness  of  that  statement.  Especially  will  they  not 
question  it  when  they  take  into  consideration  the  fact  thai  pages  of 
the  publishers'  testimony  were  under  oath,  or  jurat. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

POSTAL   REVENUES  FROM  ADVERTISING. 

Now,  the  Postmaster  General's  whole  talk — his  whole  word- 
splutter — was,  it  seems,  to  create  an  impression  that  the  government 
was  losing  millions  annually  because  of  the  large  amount  of  advertising 
matter  distributed  by  magazines  and  other  periodicals. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  publishers  in  their  "Exhibit  F,"  and 
elsewhere,  try  to  show,  and  in  the  writer's  opinion  do  show  quite 
conclusively  and  dependably,  that  the  excess  of  expenditure  over 
receipts  in  the  Postoffice  Department  would  be  two  to  four  times 
greater  than  it  now  is  were  it  not  for  the  first,  third  and  fourth  class 
revenues  resulting  directly  from  those  advertising  pages  in  our  periodical 
literature. 

Before  giving  these  publishers  a  chance  to  tell  the  truth,  as 
presented  in  their  "Exhibit  F,"  I  desire  to  make  a  few  remarks  about 
the  point  under  consideration — the  profits  to  the  government  from 
periodical  advertising. 

The  publishers  present  the  evidence  of  their  counting-rooms — the 
inside  testimony.  I  desire  to  present  some  outside  testimony. 

I  may  present  it  in  an  awkward,  raw  way,  but  I  have  a  conceit 
that  the  "jury"  will  give  it  consideration. 

Three  months  ago,  there  was  a  "party  at  our  house."  No,  it 
was  not  a  bridge  party.  Mrs.  M.  On  The  L.  has,  in  my  visual  range,  I 
can  here  assure  you,  many  commendable  virtues — meritorious  qual- 
ities and  qualifications.  Likewise,  she  has  some  faults.  The  latter 
I  cannot,  if  the  dove  of  peace  is  to  continue  perching  on  our  domicile 
lodge  pole,  mention  here.  I  may,  however,  say  with  entire  safety, 
that  "bridge"  and  alleged  similar  feminine  amusements  are  not 
among  them. 

The  party  to  which  I  advert  was  a  "tea."  The  guests  were  six, — 
Mrs.  M.  On  The  L.  serving.  The  guests  not  only  had  "the  run"  of  the 
house,  but  they  took  possession  of  it.  I  stuck  to  my  "den"  until  it 
was  invaded  and  then — well,  then,  my  dear  trousered  reader,  I  did 
precisely  what  you  would  have  done.  I  backed  off — I  surrendered. 

"What  was  the  result?" 

148 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  149 

In  this  particular  case,  the  chief  feature  of  the  result  was  that 
these  seven  women,  in  less  than  ten  minutes,  had  appropriated  every 
copy  of  all  the  latest,  and  some  a  month  or  more  old,  of  the  magazines 
and  weeklies  about  my  work-shop.  They  also  annexed  me.  I  "just 
had  to  go  downstairs  and  have  a  cup  of  tea  with  them."  Although 
I  am  not  entrancingly  fond  of  tea,  I  did  exactly  what  you  would 
have  done.  I  went.  Necessarily,  I  had  to  be  good.  I  was  good. 
I  said — as  near  as  I  knew  how — the  things  that  were  proper  to  say 
and  as  near  the  proper  time  as  I  could.  That  is,  I  said  little  and 
listened  much. 

It  is  of  what  I  heard — and  afterward  learned — I  wish  here  to 
speak.  I  wish  to  speak  of  it  because  it  fits  like  a  glove  to  the  point 
the  publishers  make  in  their  "Exhibit  F,"  which  is  to  follow. 

While  the  hostess  was  preparing  and  spreading  luncheon — a 
necessary  concomitant  of  all  "teas,"  other  than  mentioned  in  novels — 
the  six  guests  scanned  the  magazines  and  talked  magazines.  From 
their  conversation  it  appeared  that  five  of  the  six  took,  either  by 
subscription  or  news-stand  purchase,  one  or  two  monthly  magazines 
"regularly."  Whether  the  ladies  read  them  or  not  was  not  made 
clear  to  me.  One  of  them  did  make  mention  of  two  "splendid  stories" 
—"The  Ne'er  do  Well,"  by  Rex  Beach,  and,  at  the  time  of  the  "tea," 
appearing,  in  serial,  in  one  of  the  monthlies.  The  other  was  a  short 
story  entitled  "The  Quitters,"  which,  the  lady  stated,  had  appeared  in 
one  of  the  magazines  some  time  previous. 

Now,  so  far  as  I  can  recall,  the  reference  made  by  this  one  of  the 
six  ladies  was  the  only  mention  made  of  the  "literary"  features  of 
the  magazines  they  had  read  or  to  such  features  of  those  they  were 
examining.  There  was  considerable  talk  and  attention  given  to 
the  body  illustrations. 

In  calling  such  stories  as  the  lady  mentioned  "literary"  I 
presume  apologies  are  due  the  Penrose-Overstreet  Commission. 
While  both  the  stories  are  "brand-new,"  are  well  written,  each 
teaching  a  lesson — have,  in  short,  all  the  essential  elements  of 
"currency  and  periodicity" — yet  that  commission,  in  the  anxious 
interest  it  displayed  to  secure  "a  general  exclusion  act"  against  fiction 
in  periodicals,  would,  possibly,  see  nothing  of  literary  merit  in  either 
of  the  stories  the  lady  mentioned. 

I  shall,  however,  offer  no  apologies  to  the  commission  for  classing 


150  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

the  two  stories  as  literature  and  of  exemplary  currency.  On  a 
previous  page  I  have  given  my  reasons  for  differing  from  the  com- 
mission on  its  strictures  on  current  fiction  as  run  in  our  standard 
monthlies  and  weeklies.  The  lady's  expressed  opinion  of  the  two 
stories  is  another  reason  for  differing  from  that  expressed  by  the  com- 
mission. In  my  judgment,  the  lady  who  spoke  has  a  broader,  juster 
and  far  more  comprehending  knowledge  of  literature — of  its  merits 
and  demerits, whether  fiction,  historical,  biographical  or  classic — than 
has  any  member  of  that  commission. 

But  to  return  to  our  tea  party.  Those  six  ladies  scanned  and 
thumbed  through  my  magazines.  As  said,  there  was  comparatively 
little  talk  or  comment  about  the  body-matter  of  the  periodicals. 
But  those  women — all  married,  five  of  them  mothers,  two  of  them 
(three,  counting  the  hostess),  grandmothers — gave  fully  three- fourths 
of  their  time  to  the  advertising  pages. 

But  that  is  not  all.  Their  scanning  of  the  advertising  pages  of 
those  periodicals  developed  some  business  action.  The  business  talk 
started  when  one  lady  called  attention  to  the  Mad"  of  a  military 
school  in  a  town  in  Wisconsin,  "where  Thomas  attends,"  Thomas 
being  her  son.  It  developed  that  the  lady  seated  next  to  her  had  a 
son  Charles  whom  it  was  desired  to  start  in  some  preparatory  school 
in  the  fall.  Another  matron  had  a  daughter  she  desired  to  have  take 
a  course  at  some  school  for  girls.  Both  of  the  ladies  with  candidates 
for  preparatory  courses,  however,  were  of  the  opinion  that  all  the 
"good  schools"  appeared  to  be  in  the  East  and  each  would  prefer  to 
send  her  son  or  daughter  to  some  school  nearer  home.  To  this 
opinion  the  mother  of  the  boy  attending  the  Wisconsin  school  earnest- 
ly protested. 

"We  have  just  as  good  preparatory  schools,  colleges  and  uni- 
versities in  the  West  as  they  have  in  the  East,"  she  declared.  "My 

boy  is  doing  splendidly  at  the ,  Wisconsin.  He  has 

been  there  two  terms  now.  If  you  don't  want  to  send  Charles  to  a 
military  school,  there  are  a  score  or  more  of  excellent  schools  for 
either  boys  or  girls  in  the  West  and  South — some  of  them  right  near 
us,  too.  Just  look  here !" 

And  then  began  a  scurrying  through  the  school  "ad"  pages  of 
three  or  four  of  the  magazines  for  the  names  and  locations  of  per- 
paratory  schools.  The  advertisements  of  a  number  were  found. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  151 

"Take  the  names  and  addresses  and  write  all  of  them  for  their 
catalogues  or  prospectuses  or  pamphlets,  giving  the  courses  of  study 
that  pupils  may  take,  the  advantages  they  offer  and  other  informa- 
tion. That's  what  I  did  before  deciding  where  to  send  Thomas.  I 
wrote  twenty-  two  different  military  schools  in  the  country  and  got  a 
prompt  reply  from  each  of  them.  In  fact  some  of  them  wrote  me 
jour  or  five  times,  besides  sending  their  little  printed  books  which  gave 
their  courses  of  study  and  set  forth  the  special  advantages  their 
students  enjoyed." 

Of  course,  it  was  Thomas'  mother  who  spoke.  Her  suggestion, 
however,  gripped  the  rails  at  once.  The  two  matrons  with  children 
to  place  in  preparatory  schools  asked  for  pencil  and  paper.  I 
relieved  them  of  the  immediate  labor  of  writing  out  their  lists,  by 
gallantly  inviting  them  to  take  home  with  them  such  of  the  magazines 
as  they  thought  would  serve  their  purpose,  and,  as  they  were  near 
neighbors,  they  could  scan  them  at  their  leisure  and  address  directly 
from  the  advertisements.  I  lost  three  of  my  favorite  magazines  on 
my  tender. 

"This  has  no  bearing  on  the  point !"  Eh  ?  Well,  let  us  see  about 
that. 

Of  course,  I  do  not  know  what  the  mothers  of  that  son  and 
daughter  who  were  to  be  started  in  preparatory  school  work  did. 
It  is  safe  to  presume  however,  that  they  adopted  the  plan  suggested 
by  Thomas'  mother.  We  know  what  she  did.  At  any  rate  we  have 
her  own  statement  of  the  course  she  pursued,  and  there  can  be 
advanced  no  valid  reason  for  doubting  her  word.  Besides,  as  she  is 
our  "next-door"  neighbor,  I  have  made,  within  the  month,  special 
inquiry  of  her  as  to  what  she  did.  I  found  that  she  had  kept  the 
catalogues  of  the  schools  to  which  she  had  written  and  had  carefully 
"filed"  in  a  twined  package,  as  a  careful  housekeeper  usually  files 
things,  every  letter  she  had  received  from  the  schools. 

More  than  that:  She  wrote  nine  of  the  schools  a  second  letter 
and  three  of  them,  she  wrote  four  times.  To  the  Wisconsin  school 
to  which  she  finally  intrusted  the  training  and  instruction  of  her  son 
she  wrote  six  times. 

Now  let  us  see  what  revenue  the  federal  postal  fund  actually 
received  from  this  one  mother  in  her  efforts  to  place  her  boy  in  a  good, 
safe  school. 


152  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

First  the  mother  herself  wrote  forty-five  letters.  On  these  the 
Postoffice  Department  collected  90  cents. 

Second,  her  "twine  file"  shows  that,  all  told,  she  had  received 
from  the  twenty-two  schools  written  to,  a  total  of  163  letters.  On 
these  the  government  collected  $3.26. 

Third,  the  catalogues  sent  her  were  of  various  sizes.  Their 
carriage  charge,  at  third-class  rates,  I  think  would  range  from  two 
to  six  cents  or  more.  Putting  the  average  at  only  three  cents, 
which  in  my  judgment  is  low,  the  government  collected  for  their 
carriage  66  cents. 

Fourth,  thirteen  of  the  schools,  either  not  knowing  her  boy  had 
been  matriculated  or  thinking  she  might  have  other  boys  "comin'  on" 
to  preparatory  school  age,  sent  her  their  catalogues  for  the  following 
year — another  39  cents. 

Add  those  four  items  and  you  will  readily  ascertain  that  the 
government  received  $5.21  in  revenue  from  the  efforts  of  Thomas' 
mother  to  select  a  school  for  him — a  school  that  would  give  him  mili- 
tary training  and  discipline,  as  well  as  academic  instruction  in  selected 
studies. 

Her  course  of  action  was  prompted  entirely  by  the  school  advertise- 
ments she  saw  in  two  magazines. 

How  many  other  mothers  and  fathers  were  influenced  to  similar 
action  by  the  three  or  four  school  "ad"  pages  in  those  two  magazines 
I  do  not  know.  There  must,  however,  have  been  many,  I  take  it, 
otherwise  the  schools  and  preparatory  colleges  would  not  persist  in 
advertising  so  extensively,  year  after  year,  during  the  summer 
months,  in  our  high-class  monthly  and  weekly  periodicals. 

The  two  magazines  from  which  Thomas'  mother  got  her  school 
address  weighed  a  little  under  a  pound  each.  If  they  reached  her 
by  mail,  the  government  got  only  about  two  cents  for  their  carriage 
and  delivery,  which  was  ample  pay — $20.00  a  ton — for  the  service. 
But  supposing  Mr.  Hitchcock's  wild  figures  were  correct — that  it  cost 
the  government  18  cents  to  deliver  those  two  magazines  to  that 
mother — a  rate  of  $180.00  per  ton.  Of  course,  no  man  could  so 
suppose  unless  he  stood  on  his  head  in  one  corner  of  a  room  and 
figured  results  as  the  square  of  the  distance  at  which  things  appeared 
to  him,  or  chanced  to  be  one  of  those  "blessed"  mortals  prenatally 
endowed  with  what  may  be  called  mental  strabismus.  But  for  the 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  153 

sake  of  the  argument,  let  us  suppose  that  it  did  cost  the  government 
18  cents  to  deliver  those  two  magazines  to  Thomas'  mother;  let  us 
admit  that  that  falsehood  is  fact,  that  that  foolishness  is  sense.  Then 
what? 

A  magazine  weighing  one  pound  and  printed  on  the  grade  of 
paper  used  by  our  high-class  periodicals  will  count  250  or  more 
pages.  Four  pages  of  school  "ads,"  therefore,  would  count  for  about 
one-fourth  of  one  ounce. 

Even  at  Mr.  Hitchcock's  absurd  figure  of  nine  cents  a  pound,  the 
cost  to  the  government  of  carrying  those  four  pages  of  school  adver- 
tisements in  each  of  two  monthly  magazines  to  the  mother  of  Thomas 
was  less  than  four-fifths  of  one  cent. 

Do  you  grasp  the  point? 

Remember,  Mr.  Hitchcock  has  separated  himself  from  much  talk 
to  show  to  a  doubting  public  that  it  is  the  advertising  pages  of  period- 
icals which  over-burden  the  postal  service  and  are  responsible,  largely, 
for  the  alleged  "deficit." 

I  say  "alleged"  deficit.  I  say  so,  because  it  is  not,  and  never  was, 
a  deficit  de  facto.  I  shall  later  give  my  reasons  for  so  saying — shall 
show  that  this  much  talked  of  deficit  in  the  Postoffice  Department's 
revenues  is  quasi  only — a  mere  matter  of  accounting,  and  bad  ac- 
counting at  that. 

But  here  we  are  considering  the  cost  to  the  government  of  carry- 
ing and  delivering  advertising  pages  to  the  reading  public  of  this 
Nation.  Especially  are  we  considering  the  transaction  between  the 
government  and  the  mother  of  Thomas — a  transaction  induced  and 
promoted  by  eight  pages  of  advertising — four  pages  in  each  of  two 
magazines. 

As  just  stated,  it  cost  the  government  less  than  four-fifths  of  one 
cent,  even  if  we  rate  the  carriage  and  delivery  cost  at  Postmaster 
General  Hitchcock's  absurd  figure  of  nine  cents  a  pound,  to  deliver 
those  eight  pages  of  school  advertisement  to  Thomas'  mother. 
Even  the  delivery  of  the  complete  magazines  which  printed  those 
advertising  pages  would,  at  Mr.  Hitchcock's  own  figures,  cost  the 
government  only  about  18  cents.  Let's  admit  it  all — the  worst  of  it, 
and  the  worst  possible  construction  that  the  worst  will  stand.  Then 
how  does  the  government  stand  in  relation  to  the  resultant  transac- 
tion— the  transaction  induced  by  those  eight  pages  of  advertising! 


154  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

It  cost  the  government  18  cents,  according  to  Mr.  Hitchcock's 
method  of  hurdle  estimating,  to  deliver  those  two  magazines  to 
Thomas'  mother.  Well,  let  it  go  at  that.  The  government  is  out, 
then,  16  cents,  the  publisher  having  paid  in  2  cents  at  the  present 
pound  rate  for  mail  carriage  and  delivery. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  two  magazines  each  carried  four  pages 
of  school  "ads."  Those  "ads"  start  Thomas'  mother  into  a  canvass  of 
the  schools  by  correspondence.  The  result  of  that  canvass,  as 
previously  shown,  turned  into  the  government's  treasury  a  gross 
revenue  of  $5.21  for  postage  stamps  to  cover  the  first  and  third-class 
business  resulting. 

The  government,  then,  is  $5.05  ahead  so  far  as  gross  receipts  and 
gross  revenues  are  concerned,  and  it  is  ahead  that  sum,  in  the 
specific  transaction  under  consideration,  solely  and  only  because  of 
those  eight  pages  of  school  advertisements  printed  in  the  two  magazines. 

Is  that  not  a  fair — a  just — statement  ? 

As  Mr.  Hitchcock  states  that  there  is  a  large  profit  to  the  govern- 
ment for  the  stamps  sold  and  as  that  $5.21  was  all  for  stamps,  then 
those  eight  pages  of  advertisements  and  Thomas'  mother  must  have 
turned  into  the  postal  fund  a  handsome  net  profit  on  the  service 
rendered  by  the  Postoffice  Department. 

Now,  I  desire  to  return  to  our  "tea."  Two  other  "business" 
actions  developed  which  serve  to  prove  the  statement  made  on  a 
previous  page,  namely:  It  is  the  advertising  pages  of  our  periodicals 
which  yield  the  largest  revenue  to  the  government  for  the  postal  service 
it  renders. 

The  first  of  the  two  postal  revenue-producers  came  up  as  we  sat 
at  luncheon.  Each  of  the  ladies  had  a  magazine  or  weekly  in  hand. 
There  was  as  much  talking  as  eating  in  progress,  or  more.  I  presume 
that  is  the  proper  procedure  or  practice  at  "tea"  luncheons.  I  am 
not  a  competent  authority  on  "tea"  proprieties. 

One  of  the  ladies  "had  the  floor,"  so  to  speak,  and  expatiated 
eloquently  and  at  length  on  the  merits  of  an  electrically  heated  flat- 
iron  or  sad-irori,  an  advertisement  of  which  she  had  found  in  the 
magazine  she  was  scanning — a  cloth  smoother  she  had  had  in  use  for 
some  three  months.  Three  of  the  other  matrons  were  wired — that  is, 
their  homes  were  electrically  lighted.  The  others  were  getting  their 


POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  155 

domiciliary  illumination  from  what  is  vulgarly  designated  as  the 
"Chicago  Gas  Trust/'  at  85  cents  per. 

"Results?"  Three  of  the  assembled  party  desired  to  write  for 
''full  particulars"  about  that  flat-iron  at  once. 

My  boss  furnished  paper,  envelopes,  pens  and  ink.  My  assigned 
duty  in  this  business  transaction  was  both  simple  and  secondary. 
The  boss  ordered  me  to  go  over  to  the  drug  store,  buy  the  stamps  and 
mail  those  three  letters. 

I  did  so. 

The  government  got  six  cents  postal  revenue  from  me  on  that 
sad-iron  "ad."  What  further  revenue  was  gleaned  from  the  cor- 
respondence between  the  three  ladies  and  the  flat-iron  manufacturer 
I  know  not. 

It  took  me  a  long  time  to  reach  that  drug-store — a  short  block 
away — buy  the  stamps,  "lick  'em,"  stick  them  on  the  envelopes  and 
drop  those  three  letters  into  the  mail-box  just  outside  the  druggist's 
door.  At  any  rate,  the  ladies  so  informed  me  when  I  got  back. 
They  did  it  politely,  kindly,  but  very  plainly.  Not  wishing  to  scarify 
their  feelings  by  admitting  that  I  had  purposely  loitered  because  of 
an  inherent  or  pre-natal  dislike  of  teas,  I  did  what  I  thought  was 
the  proper  thing  to  do  under  the  stress  of  impinging  circumstances — 
I  lied  like  a  gentleman.  I  told  the  ladies  that  the  druggist  happened 
to  be  out  of  two-cent  stamps  and  had  sent  out  for  them — sent  to 
another  drug  store  for  them. 

"How  unfortunate !"  exclaimed  one  of  the  party.  "We  want 
a  lot  more  stamps.  We  have  each  written  for  a  sample  of  these  new 
biscuits.  We  have  to  enclose  ten  cents  in  stamps  and  the  letters 
will  have  to  be  stamped.  That's  eighty-four  cents  in  stamps  and  we 
want  to  get  the  letters  into  the  mail  tonight." 

Then  I  was  shown  the  advertisement  of  the  desired  "biscuits." 
In  the  good  old  summer  time  of  our  earthly  residence,  "when  life 
and  love  were  young,"  we  called  such  mercantile  pastry  "crackers." 
Mother  baked  all  the  biscuits  we  then  ate,  or  somebody  else's  mother 
baked  them.  Of  course,  sometimes  Mary,  Susie,  Annie,  Jane  or 
another  of  the  dear  girls  learned  the  trick  and  could  "bake  as  good  as 
mother."  Then  she  baked  the  biscuits.  And  they  were  biscuits. 
Now,  every  cracker  is  a  biscuit,  and  every  biscuit  one  gets  smells  and 
tastes  of  the  bakeshop  where  it  was  foundried. 


156  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

But  that  is  entirely  aside  from  our  subject.  The  "ad" — a  full 
page — set  forth  the  super-excellence  of  some  recently  invented  or 
devised  cracker — "biscuit,"  if  you  prefer  so  to  call  it.  It  was  an 
attractively  designed  and  well- written  "ad."  The  advertiser  offered 
to  send  a  regular-size  package  of  the  "biscuits"  to  anyone  on  receipt 
of  ten  cents  in  stamps — "enough  to  cover  the  postage" — and  the  name 
of  the  grocer  with  whom  the  sender  of  the  stamps  traded.  That,  in 
brief,  was  the  "ad"  offer,  and  each  of  the  ladies  wanted  those  biscuits 
— my  boss  as  anxious  to  sample  them  as  any  of  the  others.  On  a 
corner  of  the  luncheon  table  in  symmetrical,  pyramidal  array,  was 
84  cents  in  miscellaneous  change. 

Before  it  came  my  turn  to  speak,  Mrs.  M.  On  The  L.  gave  me  a 
scrutinizing  look — a  censorious  look — a  look  that  said,  "I  know 
where  you  have  been/'  and  took  the  floor.  She  did  not  rise  in 
taking  it  either. 

"Oh,  he  can  get  the  stamps.  Take  that  change  and  these  letters. 
You  can  go  to  some  other  drug  store  and  get  the  stamps.  Put  ten 
cents  in  stamps  in  each  envelope  and  then  seal  and  mail  the  letters." 

That's  the  speech  the  boss  made. 

I  should  be  ashamed  to  admit  it,  but  I  am  not.  There  are  limits 
to  the  endurance  of  even  such  a  temperate -zone  nature  as  that  of  the 
writer.  The  boss'  speech  reached  the  limit.  My  patriotism  was  set 
all  awry.  Even  my  earnest  desire  to  reduce  the  "deficit"  in  the 
postal  service  was,  for  the  moment,  forgotten — was  submerged. 

I  took  the  84  cents  those  friendly  ladies  had  pooled  on  "biscuits" 
and  the  seven  unsealed  letters,  assuring  them  I  would  certainly  find 
the  stamps.  I  then  went  up  to  my  den,  unlocked  a  drawer  of  my 
desk,  found  the  stamps,  made  the  enclosures,  stamped  and  sealed 
the  envelopes,  and  then  came  down  and  passed  out  on  my  assigned 
errand.  I  got  back  just  as  the  "party"  was  donning  its  hat  to  depart 
for  its  several  homes,  assured  it  that  its  orders  had  been  carried  out, 
and,  by  direction  of  the  boss,  escorted  home  one  of  its  members  who 
had  some  distance  to  walk. 

Now,  I  think  I  did  my  whole  duty  to  that  tea-party,  and  more 
than  my  duty  to  reduce  the  postal  "deficit." 

I  trust  the  "dear  reader"  will  not  have  concluded  or  even  thought 
that  I  am  trying  to  be  funny  or  humorous,  nor  even  ludicrous.  I 
have  been  writing  of  actual  occurrences,  and  writing  the  facts,  too,  of 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  157 

those  occurrences,  as  nearly  as  I  can  recall  them  after  an  interval  of 
less  than  three  months.  I  introduce  the  de  facto  happenings  at  our 
"tea  party"  here  because  they  apply— because  they  illustrate,  they 
evidence,  they  prove  that  the  advertising  pages  of  our  periodicals  are 
the  pages  which  produce  a  large  part,  if  indeed,  not  the  larger  part  of 
our  postal  service  revenues. 

But  we  must  look  after  our  "biscuits"  a  little  further. 

The  seven  women  at  that  tea  party  spent  84  cents  for  stamps 
to  get  a  sample  of  those  crackers.  Fourteen  cents  of  these  stamps 
went  to  cancellation  on  the  letters  they  mailed.  The  other  70  cents 
went  to  cancellation  on  the  cracker  packages  which  the  cracker 
inventor  sent  them — cancelled  at  the  fourth-class  rate — cancelled 
at  the  postal  carriage  rate  of  sixteen  cents  a  pound. 

Is  that  all  ?  No  it  is  not  all.  It  is  only  the  first  link  in  a 
postal  revenue  producing  chain. 

The  manufacturer  of  that  cracker  or  biscuit,  as  you  may  choose 
to  call  it,  wrote  each  of  those  seven  ladies  a  neat  letter  of  thanks,  and 
neatly  giving  a  further  boost  to  the  biscuit.  I  know  this  because  I 
have  seen  the  seven  letters — all  "stock  form"  letters. 

That  contributed  14  cents  more  in  postage  stamps  for  cancella- 
tion. 

Three  of  the  ladies  heard  from  that  cracker  baker  jour  times. 
Their  grocers  probably  had  not  put  the  cracker  in  stock.  My  boss 
got  a  second  letter  from  the  baker. 

That  contributed  20  cents  more  in  postage  stamps  for  cancella- 
tion. 

The  advertiser  sent  by  mail  to  each  of  the  seven  grocers  the  ladies 
had  named  a  sample  package  of  the  ''biscuits"  and  a  letter  naming 
the  local  grocery  jobber  or  jobbers  through  whom  stock  could  be 
had,  the  jobber's  price  of  it,  etc. 

That  contributed  84  cents  more  in  postage  stamps  for  cancella- 
tion. 

Nor  is  that  all.  My  boss'  grocer  got  three  letters  from  that 
cracker  baker  and  a  visit  from  a  salesman  of  a  local  jobber  before  he 
"stocked."  If  the  grocers  named  by  the  other  six  ladies  were  simi- 
larly honored  then  the  builder  of  those  biscuits  must  have  written  the 
seven  grocers  whom  the  tea  party  ladies  had  named  fourteen  letters 
in  addition  to  the  first  one. 


158  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

That  contributed  28  cents  more  in  postage  stamps  for  cancella- 
tion. 

Now  let  us  figure  up — or  down — how  one  tea  party  of  seven 
(I  was  the  working  or  "worked"  member,  so  am  not  to  be  counted  in), 
and  a  one  page  "ad"  stands  in  account  with  the  postal  revenues. 

The  magazine  carrying  the  cracker  "ad"  weighs  about  a  pound. 
The  single  "ad"  page  cannot  possibly  weigh  more  than  three-fiftieths 
of  one  ounce.  To  carry  and  deliver  that  one  "ad"  page  the  cost  to 
the  government,  then,  even  at  Mr.  Hitchcock's  extension-ladder  rate 
of  9  cents  a  pound,  would  be  about  one-thirtieth  of  one  cent. 

But  as  we  did  in  the  case  of  the  school  advertisements  previously 
mentioned,  let's  give  our  Postmaster  General  the  whole  "hullin*  uv 
beans."  Let  us  credit  the  government  with  Mr.  Hitchcock's  alleged 
cost  of  carrying  that  magazine  to  that  tea  party — nine  cents. 

Per  contra,  the  government  must  give  that  "ad"  page  credit  for 
producing  stamp  cancellations  to  the  amount  of  $2.30. 

Figure  it  out  yourself  and  see  if  that  is  not  the  actual  showing  of 
the  ledger  on  this  account  of  the  Postoffice  Department  with  that  one 
"ad"  page  and  those  seven  tea  party  women. 

That,  I  believe,  is  fair  and  sufficient  evidence  from  the  outside — 
from  the  field — in  support  of  the  facts  which  the  publishers  present 
in  their  "Exhibit  F,"  and  which  I  shall  here  reprint: 

The  astonishing  record  contained  in  (Exhibit  E),  of  the  absolutely  unvarying 
coincidence  of  decreases  in  postoffice  deficits  with  increases  in  second-class  mail 
is  square  up  against  the  Postmaster  General's  statements  that  the  department 
loses  8.23  cents  on  every  pound  of  second-class  mail  and  loses  over  $60,000,000  a 
year  as  a  whole,  on  second-class  mail. 

What  is  the  explanation?  How  can  the  phenomenon  of  constantly  decreas- 
ing deficits,  coincident  with  increasing  second-class  mail,  be  reconciled?  To 
be  sure,  the  Postmaster  General  has  been  trying  for  two  years  to  make  out  a  case 
against  the  magazines,  and  nothing  is  better  understood  than  that,  under  orders, 
he  is  using  all  the  figures  and  the  infinite  opportunities  of  such  a  complex  mass  of 
figures  as  those  of  the  postoffice,  to  make  the  case  for  the  magazines  as  bad  as 
possible.  Of  course,  it  does  not  cost  the  department  9.23  cents  a  pound  for 
second-class  matter ;  but  also,  of  course,  in  all  probability,  the  cost  must  be  more 
than  one-ninth  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock's  figures.  Then  why  is  it  that 
the  more  second-class  matter  there  is  mailed  the  more  money  the  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment has? 

The  answer  is  that  the  advertising  in  the  periodicals,  the  very  advertising 
the  Administration  is  trying  to  drive  out  of  existence,  is  far  and  away  the  most 
important  creator  of  profitable  first-class  postage  that  exists.  That,  furthermore, 


POSTAL  RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  159 

the  varied  and  constant  efforts  of  publishers  to  extend  the  circulation  of  their 
periodicals  by  sending  out  tens  of  millions  of  circulars,  each  making  for  a  2-cent 
reply,  and  the  great  and  complex  business  that  has  been  built  up  around  the 
originating  and  handling  of  advertising  have  made  this  national  market  for 
reputable  wares — a  market  where  the  purchasing  is  done  by  mail  with  2-cent 
stamps — the  stamps  that  pay  the  Postoffice  Department's  bills  and  give  it 
$23,000,000  a  year  to  spend  over  and  above  receipts  from  rural  free  delivery,  in 
advancing  that  splendid  service  for  the  country  dweller. 

There  were  published  in  1909  in  fifty  American  magazines  12,859,138  lines 
of  advertising,  for  over  5,000  advertisers,  who  used  over  25,000  different  adver- 
tisements, and  it  is  obviously  impossible  physically  to  tabulate  complete  results. 
But  let  us  nail  down  certain  specific  examples  of  advertisements  inserted  in 
magazines,  and  follow  the  record  right  through,  of  the  work  they  did  for  the  post- 
office,  the  expense  they  put  the  postoffice  to,  and  the  profit  they  brought  it. 

These  score  or  more  of  specific  instances  tell  the  whole  story.  Read, 
especially,  the  first  instance — the  complete  bookkeeping  transaction  of  one 
magazine  advertisement  in  account  with  the  United  States  postoffice  • 

A  MAGAZINE  ADVERTISEMENT  IN  ACCOUNT  WITH  THE  UNITED  STATES  POST  OFFICE. 

In  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  of  November  26,  1910,  was  published  a  224- 
line  advertisement  of  the  Review  of  Reviews. 

Three  thousand  seven  hundred  replies  were  received,  1,776  of  them  inclosing 
each  10  cents  in  first-class  postage. 

The  paper  on  which  this  advertisement  was  printed  weighed  0.132815  ounce. 
The  half  of  it  printed  with  the  advertisement  weighed  0.06640625  ounce. 

One  million  seventy  thousand  copies  of  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  were  sent 
through  the  United  States  mails,  so  that  the  postoffice  transported  4,440.9 
pounds  of  this  advertisement.  At  9.23  cents  per  pound — the  pound  cost  of  trans- 
porting and  handling  second-class  matter  given  by  the  Postoffice  Department — 
the  total  cost  of  giving  the  postoffice  services  to  this  advertisement  was  $409.90 ; 
postage  paid  at  1  cent  a  pound,  $44.41 ;  loss  to  postoffice,  $365.49. 

THE  POSTOFFICE'S  GROSS  AND  NET  GAIN  FROM  FIRST-CLASS  POSTAGE  CREATED. 

3,700  inquiries  were  received  by  the  Review  of  Reviews. 

3,700  2-cent  stamps  for  inquiries , $74 . 00 

3,700  acknowledgments  under  2-cent  stamp 74 .00 

Six  follow-ups  to  3,700  inquiries  under  2-cent  stamps 444 .00 

1,776  inquiries  sent  10  cents  in  stamps 177 . 60 

740  sales  are  made,  each  involving  12  bills  and  12  remittances,  under 

2-cent  stamp 355 .00 

The  3,700  names  of  inquiries  will  be  circulated  at  least  three  times  a  year 
for  five  years,  under  2-cent  stamps  (a  practical  certainty  of  twice  as 

many  circularizations)  — 1,110.00 

Total  gross  direct  sales  of  2-cent  stamps  from  advertisement  . . .  $2,234 . 60 


160  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Profit  of  40  per  cent,  according  to  profit  percentage  of  Postmaster 
General  on  first-class  postage $893 . 84 

Direct  loss  in  transporting  and  handling  advertisement,  cost  figured  at 
0.23  cents  a  pound,  income  at  1  cent 365 . 49 

Ultimate  minimum  net  gain  to  postofRce  in  having  carried  this 

advertisement $528  35 

MORE    SPECIFIC   EXAMPLES   OP    PROFITABLE    POSTAGE    ORIGINATED    BY  MAGAZINE 

ADVERTISING. 

Names  of  concerns  are  withheld  here.  The  original  documents  on  which 
these  statements  rest  are  in  the  possession  of  the  postal  committee  of  the  Period- 
ical Publishers'  Association,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City.  These  are  only 
a  few  samples  of  hundreds  that  have  come,  and  are  printed  to  suggest  the  details 
of  the  methods  by  which  national  magazine  advertising  far  more  than  pays  its 
way  when  sent  out  through  America  at  1  cent  a  pound  second-class  postal  rate. 
"MR.  E.  W.  HAZEN,  Advertising  Director. 

"DEAR  MR.  HAZEN-  During  the  year  1910  we  paid  the  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment for  carrying  our  first,  third  and  fourth  class  mail  matter  the  sum  of  $496,- 
749.88.  We  shipped  during  the  year  1910,  1,717,514  packages.  Of  these  809,781 
were  sent  by  mail  and  907,733  by  express.  All  of  these  would  have  been  sent  by 
parcels  post  if  the  postal  rates  and  regulations  permitted.  We  paid  the  express 
companies  for  the  transportation  of  the  packages  referred  to  above  $347,392.30." 

The  above  statement  covers  only  mail  matter  sent  out  of  this  house  The 
figures  given  are  accurate.  Any  statement  of  the  number  of  pieces  of  mail 
matter  which  we  receive  would  be  approximate,  but  we  can  safely  state  that 
it  was  in  excess  of  4,500,000  pieces  of  first-class  mail  matter  This  estimate 
is  entirely  conservative 

Here  is  another  postal  bill  of  one  of  the  many  great  "mail  order"  maga- 
zine advertisers — a  company  which  sells  excellent  clothing  to  women  who  can 
not  come  to  the  great  cities  and  their  department  stores  The  president  of 
the  company  writes 

"As  we  are  a  mail-order  concern,  our  business  is  derived  entirely,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  from  our  magazine  advertising  During  the  year  1909 
we  paid  the  Postoffice  Department  for  carrying  our  first,  third  and  fourth  class 
mail  matter  the  sum  of  $433,242." 

What  an  advertisement  in  one  issue  of  one  magazine  did  for  another  women's 
"wearing  apparel"  house  is  recorded  in  their  books  as  follows 

The  postage  required  to  answer  the  15,000  replies  from  the  one-column 
insertion  in  the  magazine,  also  to  send  the  merchandise  required  by  2,000  of  the 
inquirers,  also  to  "follow  up"  other  inquirers,  etc.,  amounted  to  $5,460 

The  government  charge  for  carrying  this  advertisement  through  the  second- 
class  mails  was  $38.83, 

That  $5,460,  by  the  way,  did  not  include  the  several  hundred  dollars  spent 
on  postage  by  the  inquirers  themselves. 

The  president  of  a  concern  which  publishes  encyclopedias,  natural  histories, 


POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  161 

classics,  etc..  investigated  the  relations  with  the  postoffice  of  a  recent  page  of 
his  advertising  inserted  in  a  single  magazine,  and  the  correspondence  which 
resulted. 

The  stamps  and  money  orders  bought  by  the  inquirers  and  by  the  publishing 
company,  as  the  result  of  the  4,000  answers  to  this  one  advertisement,  amounted 
to  $884. 

The  publishers  paid  the  postoffice  to  carry  that  page,  at  second-class  rate, 
$12. 

Thus,  even  if  it  had  not  already  been  disproved  that  the  second-class  rate  is 
insufficient,  it  would  still  have  been  mightily  unfortunate  for  the  department's 
business  if  that  page  advertisement  had  not  appeared.  A  good  business  man 
would  be  willing  to  lose  several  times  $12  in  order  to  do  $884  worth  of  business  as 
profitable  to  himself  as  first-class  mail  is  to  the  government. 

Scores  of  apparently  small  advertisers  are  found  in  any  issue  of  any  popular 
magazine.  They  are  just  as  good  customers  to  the  postoffice,  in  proportion,  as 
the  big  concerns  using  columns  or  pages. 

ONE  INCH — $5,492  STAMPS  A  YEAR. 

A  modest  1-inch  magazine  advertisement  is  printed  by  a  company,  which 
reports  that  its  yearly  postage  account  from  that  cause  is  $5,132.  Adding  the 
approximate  postage  on  the  1,500  letters  a  month  sent  to  the  company,  the 
yearly  total  of  postage  created  by  this  inconspicuous  concern  through  the  maga- 
zine is  found  to  be  $5,492. 

ONE-HALF  INCH — $590  A  MONTH. 

A  half-inch  magazine  space  is  used  each  month  by  a  certain  electric  manu- 
facturing company  in  the  Middle  West,  but  its  postage  records  show  stamp  pur- 
chases for  a  single  month  (November,  1909),  resulting  from  that  half- inch 
advertisement  of  $590 

Two  quarter-column   announcements  of  a  dress  fabric,    appealing   to 
women,  in  a  single  magazine,  brought  7,000  replies,  involving  postage 

stamps  worth  $230  00 

Pretty  good  business  getters  for  the  department?     These  "ads"  Cost 

the  publishers  to  mail,  at  second-class  rates 19  40 

Even  better,  in  proportion,  was  a  one -fifth -column  appeal  to  mothers  in 
one  issue  of  the  same  magazine      It  produced  postage  to  the  amount 

of 240  00 

To  carry  the  little  advertisement  at  second-class  rates  the  government 

charged 7  76 

A  single-column  magazine  "ad"  of  a  Chicago  clothing  firm,  with  a 
number  of  retail  stores  over  the  country,  brought  4,000  inquiries 

which,  with  the  following  up,  etc  ,  caused  postage  of 380  00 

That  column  cost  the  publisher  to  mail,  at  second-class  rates 38  67 

The  Woman's  Home  Companion  sent  a  letter  to  the  advertisers  ID  its 
November  issue,  asking  for  a  memorandum  of  the  letter  postage  on  tlfc. 


162  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

inquiries  from  their  November  advertising  and  the  answers  to  these 
inquiries.     Seventy-five  advertisers  reported,  with  definite  figures, 

an  aggregate  letter-postage  expenditure  of   $3,385  90 

The  Woman's  Home  Companion  paid  the  government  just  $583  for  carrying 
that  portion  of  the  magazine  on  which  these  75  advertisements  were  printed. 

Any  advertising  man  can  point  to  hundreds  of  "mail-order  firms"  like  the 
above.  These  firms  can  trace  directly  to  their  magazine  advertising,  every 
year,  purchases  of  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  the  stamps  that  make  big  profits 
for  the  postoffice. 

It  is  even  more  surprising  to  learn  the  enormous  postage  bills  caused  by  an 
entirely  different  class  of  magazine  advertisers — the  "general  publicity,"  or 
"national"  advertisers — who  wish  the  reader  to  ask  for  their  fine  soaps,  or 
mattresses,  or  silks,  or  stationery  at  his  local  store.  These  firms  do  not  depend 
on  direct  replies,  yet  they  receive  so  many  that  thousands  of  dollars  are  spent  for 
stamps  per  year  in  scores  of  cases — even  per  month  in  many. 

EVEN  THE  "GENERAL"  OR  "PUBLICITY"  MAGAZINE  ADVERTISING  CREATES  ENOR- 
MOUS STAMP  SALES. 

A  moderate-priced  shoe  is  sold  through  a  number  of  retail  stores  in  different 
cities.  The  manufacturers  advertise  in  magazines  for  national  "publicity," 
to  bring  buyers  into  these  stores  Incidentally  they  mention  their  department 
to  fill  orders  by  mail.  Thus  an  enormous  correspondence  has  been  built  up,  of 
which  the  average  annual  increase  alone  during  the  last  three  years  has  involved 
264,000  first-class  letters — a  minimum  postage  of  $5,280.  This  is  simply  one 
yearly  addition  to  the  company's  already  first-class  business,  of  which  it  writes 
that  "all  but  a  nominal  percentage"  has  been  "induced  by  our  magazine  adver- 
tisements." 

More  than  $15,000  was  spent  for  postage  by  a  mattress  manufacturer  last 
year,  "following  up"  inquiries  received  from  his  magazine  advertising,  though 
it  is  designed  to  create  a  demand  for  the  mattress  at  local  furniture  stores. 

This  $15,000  is  over  and  above  his  steady  correspondence  with  dealers,  etc., 
which  was  built  up  in  the  first  place  by  magazine  advertising. 

One  of  the  many  recent  "contests"  conducted  by  magazine  advertisers  was 
that  of  a  stationery  company.  Theirs  is  also  "publicity,"  not  mail-order  adver- 
tising. It  is  designed  to  create  a  demand  for  their  paper  over  the  stationery 
store  counters.  But  their  "contest"  awhile  ago,  announced  exclusively  in  the 
magazines,  brought  59,000  replies,  which,  with  follow-up,  etc.,  averaged  12  cents 
first-class  postage — a  total  of  $7,080  in  one  month. 

Here  is  still  another  "publicity"  experience.     In  the  course  of  familiarizing 
women  with  a  new  trade-mark  for  silk  by  means  of  magazine    advertising,    the 
manufacturers  incurred  postage  bills,  during  the  first  11  months  of  1909,  amount- 
ing to  $7,979.75.     About  $2,000  more  ought  to  be  added  to  represent  the  stamps 
purchased  by  the  prospective  silk-dress  wearers  themselves. 
Another  "contest,"  held  by  a  national  advertiser,  brought  12,089  replies 
from   a   single   insertion  in  one  magazine,  to  handle  which  postage 
stamps  had  to  be  bought  for  more  than ,,,,,,.,,, $600 .00 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  163 

The  publishers  paid  to  have  that  page  carried  through  the  mails,  at 

second-class  rates $  97  66 

A  half  page  in  one  issue  of  another  magazine  brought  4,000  letters  from 

inquirers,  which,  with  "follow-up,"  etc.,  meant  stamp  purchases 200  00 

The  carriage  of  that  half  page  at  second-class  rates  was 25  62 

Magazine  advertisements  of  a  popular  cold  cream  brought  170,000  letters  to 
the  manufacturers  last  year,  though  the  controlling  purpose  of  the  campaign 
was  to  get  the  public  to  ask  for  that  kind  of  cold  cream  at  the  drug  stores. 

Not  including  postal  orders,  special-delivery  stamps,  etc.,  the  stamp  revenue 
to  the  government  from  these  letters  was  $8,500  And,  of  course,  that  does  not 
include  the  profuse  correspondence  between  the  manufacturers,  the  jobbers,  the 
drug  stores  all  over  the  country,  and  so  on. 

For  another   toilet   preparation   a  single  advertisement  in  a  leading 
weekly  magazine  brought  more  than   13,000  replies.     The  stamps 

involved  here  add  up  to i $99000 

The  publishers  paid  the  postoffice  to  carry  this  advertisement,  at  the 

second-class  rate .  . .       48  83 

A  household  remedy,  seen  in  most  drug  stores,  was  mentioned  to  the 
extent  of  one-quarter  page  in  a  single  issue  of  one  magazine      The 

requests  for  samples  numbered  1,685.     The  postage  involved  was 202  20 

Another  "drug  store"  preparation  frequently  brings  the  manufacturer  2,000 
to  6,000  letters  each  month  from  their  magazine  advertising  of  it,  though  that 
is,  of  course,  for  "publicity,"  first  of  all.  A  single  insertion  last  fall  brought 
12,000  inquiries,  which  created,  first  and  last,  the  purchase  of  $750  in  stamps. 

A  system  of  physical  culture  for  women  put  quarter  pages  in  several  maga- 
zines during  the  month  of  November,  from  which  3,905  letters  were  received. 
In  this  case,  the  total  postage,  including  follow-up  and  correspondence  back 
and  forth,  was  $1,104.09  for  that  month  of  November  alone. 

Narrow  limits  would  be  expected  in  the  demand  for  expensive  silverage. 
Yet  a  silversmith's  two  advertisements  in  the  November  and  December  maga- 
zines brought  45,000  requests  for  catalogues.  These  had  already  involved  by 
January  13,  with  the  following  up,  etc.,  a  postage  bill  of  $5,510. 

Another  big  postage  bill  was  also  incurred,  incidentally,  by  a  company  which 
uses  magazine  advertising  to  bring  buyers  into  drug  stores,  etc.,  asking  for  cer- 
tain shaving  soaps  and  the  like.     Still  their  postage  bill  during  1909,  as  a  result 
of  inquiries  from  their  advertising,  was  $3,656.08.     This  does  not  include  the 
stamps  bought  by  the  inquirers — probably  $1,000  more. 
A  similar  soap  was  described  in  a  page  advertisement  which,  printed  in 
one  magazine  one  time,  brought  more  than  30,000  letters.     First-class 

postage  on  them  and  the  answers  to  them  aggregated  more  than $900 . 00 

The  charge  for  carrying  that  page,  at  the  second-class  rate,  was  about ...      120 . 00 

THE    LARGE    STAMP    PURCHASES    OF    ENTIRE    BUSINESSES    DEPEND    ON    MAGAZINE 

ADVERTISING. 

All  the  above  examples  are  of  postage  sales  caused  by  magazine  advertising 
directly,  in  point  of  time.  Just  as  directly  caused  are  the  sales  for  correspond- 


164  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

ence  between  manufacturer,  jobber,  retailer,  agent,  etc.,  in  the  many  businesses 
that  have  been  built  up  by  magazine  advertising. 

A  camera  company  writes:  "There  is  a  magnificent  revenue  to  the  govern- 
ment through  our  correspondence  with  these  dealers,  through  their  correspond- 
ence with  their  customers,  and  through  their  sending  our  printed  matter,  fur- 
nished by  us,  at  a  postage  cost  of  $100,  and  such  dealer  could  not  afford  to  go 
to  this  expense  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  this  local  advertising  which  he  does 
is  backed  up  by  our  general  magazine  publicity." 

This  one  result  of  magazine  work  is  figured  by  the  company  at  tens  of 
thousands  of  dollars  every  year  in  postage. 

The  postage-stamp  revenue  created  by  magazine  advertising  keeps  on  for 
months,  and  years  even,  between  the  advertiser  and  the  consumer,  in  cases  like 
correspondence  schools,  for  instance. 

One  prominent  company  writes  that  it  not  only  spends  $429  per  month  in 
postage,  answering  inquiries  which  themselves  account  for  about  $100  more,  but 
that  it  enrolls  per  month  more  than  2,200  new  scholars — and  every  scholar,  by 
the  time  he  has  received  all  his  numerous  "lessons,"  etc.,  costs  the  school  about 
$3.50  more  in  postage.  Thus  each  month  creates  about  $7,700  more  in  postage 
bills  for  this  school,  not  counting  nearly  as  much  again  which  the  scholars  must 
spend. 

"Our  advertising,"  writes  a  leading  investment  banker,  "by  reason  of  names 
being  placed  on  our  mailing  list  for  circulation,  etc.,  costs  us  several  thousand 
dollars  a  year  for  postage,  which  would  not  be  the  case  if  we  were  not  doing  and 
had  done  advertising." 

In  fact,there  would  be  little  left  of  the  department's  profitable  postage  stamp 
sales  were  the  big  magazine  houses  crippled.  The  publishers  are  the  largest 
buyers  of  lists  of  names  used  for  circulation.  To  circularize  these  lists  many 
millions  of  2-cent  stamps  are  bought  every  year. 

"Our  entire  mail  order  book  business,"  writes  a  Western  firm,  "has  been 
built  up  through  magazine  advertising.  Last  year  our  postal  bill  amounted  to 
$12,298.57.  This  was  used  on  circular  matter  and  letters.  If  the  circulation  of 
the  magazines  should  be  reduced,  and  it  is  our  opinion  that  it  would  be  if  the 
postage  rate  should  be  increased,  our  postage  bill  would  be  reduced  proportion- 
ately." 

There  is  much  more  to  be  said  in  support  of  my  contention  that 
the  advertising  pages  of  our  periodicals  are  their  revenue-producing 
pages,  but  it  cannot  now  here  be  said,  as  I  must  pass  to  another  divi- 
sion of  our  general  subject. 

We  have  devoted  most  of  our  previous  space  to  Mr.  Hitchcock's 
"rider,"  to  the  influences  and  influencers  that  originated  it  and  tried  to 
push  it — by  methods  adroit  and  scrupulously  unscrupulous — into 
federal  enactment — into  operative  law.  At  this  point  of  our  pre- 
sentation of  the  general  subject  of  Postal  Riders  and  Raiders,  it  was 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  165 

my  original  intention  to  take  up  generally  the  raider  features  or 
elements  as  planned  for  discussion  in  this  volume.  I  intended  to 
start  just  here  to  discuss  the  Postoffice  Department  "deficit,"  of 
which  Mr.  Hitchcock  has  had  so  much  to  say — and  of  which  he  made 
voluminous  and  eloquent  use  during  his  efforts  to  bring  his  "rider" 
a  safe  winner  under  the  wire.  I  intended,  as  just  said,  to  begin  to 
write  about  the  postal  "deficit"  just  here — a  deficit  which  never  had 
real  existence,  since  the  days  of  the  "pony  post"  and  "mail  coach," 
save  in  quasi  form — in  methods  covering  political  lootage  and  looters. 

Well,  I  have  changed  my  original  plan  a  little.  I'll  run  a  few 
lines  through  that  "deficit" — twaddle- talk,  a  little  further  on.  Here 
I  will  merely  repeat  what  I  have  already  said,  in  substance  at  least. 

There  never  has  been  a  postal  deficit  since  the  period  I  have 
indicated,  save  deficits  created  by  official  crooks  and  crookedness, 
by  "interests"  which  hired  the  official  crooks  and  bought  the  crooked- 
ness, and  by  department  accounting  methods  which  would  put 
Standard  Oil  or  a  Western  cow  ranch  on  the  financial  blink  inside  of 
thirty-six  months,  or  even  in  twelve. 

We  will  discuss  this  artistic  "deficit"  later.  Here  I  now  desire 
to  ad  vert  to,  and  animadvert  on,  another  point  which  has  been  brought 
forcibly  to  my  attention  recently — weeks,  some  two  months,  after 
I  climbed  up  here  to  take  a  look  over  the  general  situation,  and  then 
chanced,  through  the  aid  of  a  Congressman  friend,  to  get  my  distance 
glasses  focused  on  this  postoffice  foolery. 

Foolery,  I  have  written.  I  was  wrong.  There  was  no  foolery 
about  it.  It  was  a  calculated,  a  studied,  a  cold-blooded  partisan  stab 
at  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  helpful — most  up-building — industries 
in  this  country. 

But  we  will  let  that  point  and  the  "deficit"  rest  for  the  present. 
It  appears  that  one  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's  much-worked  arguments  to 
harvest  or  glean  votes  for  his  rider  amendment  was  that  the  amend- 
ment would  "affect  only  a  few  magazine  publishers,"  or  that  "only  a 
few  magazine  publishers,  at  most,  would  be  affected  by  the  amend- 
ment and  that  they  had  enriched  themselves  by  the  special  privilege 
granted  by  the  second-class  mail  rate  statute  of  1885,"  etc.,  etc. 

Various  newspapers  quoted  Mr.  Hitchcock  variously  on  the  same 
point  or  to  the  same  end,  and  two  Congressmen  acquaintances 
reported  that  he  had  personally  talked  to  them  along  the  same  lines. 


166  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Only  a  "few  magazine  publishers"  would  be  affected  by  legisla- 
tion of  the  character  recommended  in  the  rider  amendment?  That 
is  the  point  I  desire  here  and  now  to  consider.  I  hope  the  reader 
will  go  carefully  and  thoughtfully  through  the  consideration  with  me. 

First  it  may  be  said,  and  safely  admitted,  that  no  such  legislation 
as  that  recommended  in  the  "rider"  previously  discussed,  would 
be  sustained  by  any  court  in  this  country,  unless  its  wording  was  so 
modified  as  to  make  its  requirements  and  restrictions  apply  to  all 
periodicals,  or  at  least  to  all  monthly  and  weekly  periodicals.  Even 
then,  it  is  doubtful  if  any  court  could  be  found  to  sustain  such  a 
piece  of  class  or  special  legislation  unless  its  terms  were  broadened  to 
cover  newspapers,  so  numerously  and  so  aggressively  are  the  latter 
trenching  upon  what  is  generally  recognized  as  the  weekly  and 
monthly  periodical  field  of  effort,  influence  and  usefulness. 

I  think  that  any  informed,  fair-minded  reader  will  agree  that 
that  statement  is  a  fair  statement  of  governing  facts,  unless  we  ques- 
tion the  honesty  of  our  courts  in  the  discharge  of  their  judicial  duties 
or  question  the  juridic  honesty  of  some  member  or  members  of  the 
ruling  court. 

That  may  read  like  a  blunt  or  offensive  way  of  putting  it.  But 
we  are  not  writing  of  a  Palm  Beach  twilight  party  nor  of  a  Newport 
frolic.  We  are  writing  of  and  to  a  serious  subject — a  subject  which 
vitally  touches  and  trenches  into  the  vital  interests  of  ninety  millions 
of  people — the  ninety  millions  who  are  the  blood  and  bone  and  sinew 
of  this  nation  of  ours.  It  is  a  subject  of  such  grave  import  as  to  make 
it  necessary  that  we  call  a  spade  a  spade,  a  thief  a  thief,  a  scoundrel 
a  scoundrel,  and  judicial  weakness,  judicial  treachery. 

That  is  why  I  put,  plain  and  strong,  the  point  that  no  court 
could  be  found  in  this  country  to  sustain  legislation  of  the  character 
covered  in  Mr.  Hitchcock's  "rider"  amendment  to  the  1911  postoffice 
appropriation  bill,  and  that  every  informed,  fair-minded  man  must 
concur  in  the  statements  that  I  have  made  in  the  three  or  four  pre- 
ceding paragraphs. 

That  "rider"  amendment  would  "affect  only  a  few  magazine 
publishers,"  says  Mr.  Hitchcock,  or  as  he  is  reported  to  have  said. 

Now,  let  us  look  over  the  field  a  little.  Let  us  make  an  honest, 
intelligent  effort — an  effort  not  warped  by  political  hopes  and 


POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS.  167 

aspirations  nor  by  personal  prejudices  and  interests — to  see  who  or 
whom  would  be  affected  by  such  special  or  class  legislation. 

First,  the  reader  must  get  a  mental  hip-lock  or  strangle-hold  on 
the  fact  that  the  second-class  mail  business  of  this  country — the  output 
of  periodical  publishers — in  marketed  values,  is  somewhere  around 
one  billion  dollars  a  year. 

As  has  previously  been  stated,  and  I  believe  well  sustained  by 
the  facts,  no  business,  however  well  established,  can  stand  an  in- 
crease of  300  per  cent  in  the  haulage  and  delivery  cost  of  its  output 
without  sustaining  great  financial  loss.  The  fair-minded  reader  will, 
I  believe,  agree  that  the  publishers  in  presenting  their  case  to  Mr. 
Hitchcock,  to  the  Penrose-Overstreet  and  other  commissions,  proved 
the  truth  of  that  statement  quite  conclusively. 

Well,  if  that  be  true,  legislation  of  the  sort  proposed  in  the 
Hitchcock  "rider"  must  necessarily,  after  adjudication,  put  all  the 
lesser  weeklies  and  monthlies  (those  not  financially  strong)  out  of 
business.  Likewise  hundreds  of  the  smaller  newspapers  must  discon- 
tinue issue.  Of  course,  Mr.  Hitchcock  prattled  about  the  news- 
papers not  being  affected  by  his  proposed  amendment.  But,  as 
previously  stated,  no  court  of  justice  in  this  country  would  sustain 
such  a  biased,  prejudiced  piece  of  class  legislation  as  that  proposed  in 
the  "rider." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

WHO  ARE   AFFECTED. 

Let  us  see  who  really  would  be  affected. 

As  just  cited  there  necessarily  would  be  thousands  of  periodical 
publishers  affected— virtually  ruined.  But,  let  us  go  down  to  things 
elemental  in  this  question — down  to  the  stumpage. 

The  great  educational  white  way  of  our  periodical  literature  is 
builded  upon  wood  pulp. 

In  an  opening  paragraph  of  this  volume  I  adverted  to  that  fact. 
The  chief  pulp  woods  are  spruce  of  the  North — even  of  the  distant 
North — and  the  Northwest.  Then  come  cottonwood,  basswood  and 
soft  maple,  of  the  South,  Southeast  and  New  England.  Of  course, 
there  are  several  other  kinds  of  pulpwoods,  but  they  are  not  used 
extensively  for  the  manufacture  of  white  paper,  unless  chemically 
treated,  and  such  treatment  makes  them  expensive.  Of  the  pulp- 
woods  I  have  named,  spruce  is  far  and  away  the  most  extensively 
used.  From  spruce  is  produced  the  best  pulp.  In  "milling,"  it 
shows  body,  fiber,  strength — it  gives  toughness  to  the  milled  sheet 
or  the  Web  roll. 

But  that  is  enough.  I  am  not  an  expert  in  pulp- wood  stocks. 
The  point  I  am  trying  to  call  to  the  reader's  attention  is  that  any 
legislation  which  cuts  down  the  consumption  of  wood  pulp  must 
necessarily  "affect"  some  other  folks  besides  "a  few  magazine 
publishers." 

First,  a  just  adjudication  of  such  a  piece  of  legislation  as  that 
proposed  in  Mr.  Hitchcock's  rider  amendment  would  put  from  thirty 
to  fifty  per  cent  of  our  weaker  (but  excellent)  periodicals  on  the  finan- 
cial rocks — put  them  out  of  business.  They  consume  thousands  of 
tons  yearly  of  pulp-wood  paper. 

It  will,  I  think,  be  freely  admitted  that  such  periodicals  would  be 
out  of — forced  out  of — the  pulp-wood  market — I  mean  out  of  the 
wood-pulp  paper  market,  which  amounts  to  the  same  thing. 

But  that  is  not  all.  The  strong  weeklies  and  monthlies  are  not 
going  to  be  put  out  of  business  by  legislation  of  that  rider  character. 
They  will  continue  in  business.  They  will  meet  its  unjust  exactions 

168 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  169 

by  readjustments.  They  are  printing  on  sixty  to  eighty  pound  stock. 
Some  parts  of  their  periodicals  are  printed  on  even  heavier  stock. 
They  will  go  to  the  paper  mills  and  demand  lighter  stock,  of  special 
finish — and  their  demands  will  be  met — and  fifty  to  sixty  pound  stock 
will  be  used.  The  special  finish  will  give  the  reader  just  as  present- 
able a  magazine,  typographically,  as  he  now  receives. 

But  you  observe  that  the  publisher  will  be  saving  from  twenty 
to  fifty  per  cent  in  stock  weight. 

You  will  also  observe  that  the  paper  mills  will  be  using  twenty 
to  fifty  per  cent  less  wood  pulp  than  they  are  now  using. 

You  will  also  observe  that  the  railroads  will  haul  twenty  to  fifty 
per  cent  less  of  pulp  timber  and  less  wood-pulp  paper  than  they  now 
haul. 

"Only  a  few  magazine  publishers  will  be  affected,"  eh? 

Let  us  "recast"  as  far  as  we  have  gone. 

The  owners  of  pulp  wood  acres  or  stumpage  would  be  affected, 
would  they  not?  There  are  probably  three  to  five  hundred  of  them 
in  the  country,  taken  at  a  low  estimate. 

They  are  not  of  the  "few  magazine  publishers"  are  they? 

Pulp  mill  and  other  investors  in  pulp-wood  stumpage  seldom 
buy  until  they  have  an  estimate  by  some  skilled  judge  as  to  the  prob- 
able "cut"  the  acreage  will  yield.  For  this  purpose  the  prospective 
purchasers  usually  employ  one  or  more  "timber  cruisers."  A  timber 
cruiser  is  a  man  so  skilled  and  experienced  that  he  can  look  at  a  stand- 
ing tree  and  tell  you  within  a  hundred  feet  or  so  how  much  lumber  it 
will  saw  or  how  many  cords  of  pulp  or  other  wood  it  will  cut.  He 
"steps  off"  an  acre,  sizes  up  the  available  trees  growing  on  the  acre, 
averaging  up  the  large  trees  with  the  small  ones,  and  then  estimates 
or  calculates  the  average  wood  or  lumber  growth  on  that  acre.  He 
then  goes  off  to  some  other  acre.  The  latter  may  be  only  a  few 
hundred  yards  or  it  may  be  a  mile  or  two  from  the  acres  last  meas- 
ured, the  estimate  on  which  the  "cruiser"  has  carefully  noted  in  his 
"field  book." 

The  second  acre  he  "works"  as  he  did  the  first,  and  so  the 
"cruiser"  goes  on  with  acre  after  acre  through  a  forest  of  ten,  fifty, 
a  hundred,  or  it  may  be  a  million  or  more  acres  of  "stumpage," 
always  careful  to  note  the  "light"  and  the  "heavy"  timbered  sections, 
and  marks  with  a  sharp,  shrewd  and  experienced  eye  an  estimate  of 


170  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

the  number  of  acres  covered  by  the  light  and  the  heavy  growth  of 
timber.  When  he  has  covered  the  acreage  his  employer  contem- 
plates buying,  he  comes  back  to  civilization,  turns  in  his  field  book 
and  makes  a  report  to  the  boss.  On  that  showing  the  boss  buys 
or  declines. 

Sometimes,  of  course,  the  careful,  prudent  boss  may  have  two, 
three  or  a  dozen  cruisers,  covering  different  fields  of  a  vast  forest 
section  and,  sometimes,  virtually  trailing  each  other.  In  the 
latter  case,  the  buyer  seeks  to  use  one  cruiser's  estimate  as  a  check 
on  the  other.  In  any  event,  however,  the  purchase  or  investment 
is  usually  made  on  the  showing  the  cruisers  have  made. 

Now,  this  talk  about  timber,  cruisers,  etc.,  may  be  uninteresting 
to  the  reader.  I  sincerely  hope,  though,  he  will  read  it  and  follow 
me  along  the  same  lines  a  little  further.  My  object  is  to  show  how 
wide  of  the  truth — how  unjustly  or  ignorantly  wide  of  the  truth — Mr. 
Hitchcock  was  when  making  the  statement,  which  it  has  been  repeat- 
edly and  reputably  asserted  he  did  make,  to  the  effect  that  the  legis- 
lation he  sought  would  "affect  only  a  few  magazine  publishers." 
I  have  stated,  and  have  given  what  I  believe  to  be  sound,  valid  rea- 
sons in  support  of  the  statement,  that  legislation  of  the  nature, 
covered  by  his  rider  amendment  ultimately — and  necessarily — must 
be  either  annulled  by  the  courts  or  be  so  broadened  as  to  remove  its 
special  or  class  features.  Of  course,  Mr.  Hitchcock  wanted — and  he 
still  wants — legislation  of  the  nature  indicated  in  that  rider  to  become 
operative  law.  It  is  rny  belief  he  entertained  such  hope  and  desire 
when  he  asserted  that  an  enactment  of  the  character  of  his  rider 
would  "affect  only  a  few  magazine  publishers."  At  any  rate,  it  was 
with  such  belief  I  introduced  this  division  of  our  general  subject. 

As  previously  stated,  legislation  of  the  character  sought  by  Mr. 
Hitchcock  cannot  be  enacted  into  operative  law  without  cutting  down 
the  consumption  of  wood  pulp  from  thirty  to  fifty  per  cent. 

Such  a  cut  in  consumption,  I  am  here  trying  to  show,  cannot  be 
made  without  affecting  the  earnings  and  lives  of  men — many  thou- 
sands of  men  and  families — who  cannot  even  be  imagined  as  of  those 
"few  magazine  publishers." 

When  the  stumpage  owner  decides  to  cut  five,  ten,  fifty,  a  hun- 
dred or  more  thousand  acres  for  milling,  another  gang  of  men — "road 
blazers" — is  sent  into  the  forest.  If  the  transportation  is  to  be  by 


POSTAL    RIDERS    AND   RAIDERS.  171 

water,  some  river  or  smaller  stream,  these  latter  men  select  suitable 
roll-ways  and  boom  yardages  along  the  stream.  From  each  of  these 
they  "blaze"  or  mark  the  trees  and  smaller  growths  to  be  felled  and 
the  obstructions  to  be  removed  in  order  to  provide  a  haulage  roadway 
— usually  providing  for  both  wagons  and  snow  sleds  or  sledges.  If 
the  transportation  is  to  be  by  rail,  corresponding  work  is  done,  the 
roadways  branching  in  from  the  forest  to  the  rail  sidings  where  the 
loading  is  to  be  done.  Not  infrequently  "spur  tracks"  are  blazed 
which  sometimes  run  for  miles  into  the  forest  away  from  the  main  line 
of  the  railway. 

Following  these  men  who  mark  out  the  "haul ways,"  come  a  far 
more  numerous  body  of  men  with  axes,  saws,  hooks,  oxen,  mules  and 
other  equipment,  including  cooks,  "grub"  and  other  things  necessary 
to  feed  and  shelter  them.  These,  also,  are  factors — elemental  or 
primal  factors — in  the  production  of  wood-pulp  from  which  most  of 
our  white  paper  is  made.  Numerically  they,  in  the  aggregate, 
number  thousands. 

Most  certainly  they  cannot  be  counted  among  the  "few  magazine 
publishers"  referred  to  by  Mr.  Hitchcock. 

With  equal  certainty  it  can  be  said  that  each  of  these  thousands 
would  be  materially  affected  in  his  industrial  occupation  by  any 
legislation  or  other  influence  which  caused  a  shrinkage  in  the  demand 
for  wood-pulp. 

In  the  fall  and  winter  of  the  year  (sometimes  in  other  seasons  as 
well),  an  army  of  men — not  thousands,  but  tens  of  thousands  in 
number — swarm  into  the  pulp  wood  forests.  They  are  axemen, 
"fiddlers"  (cross-cut  sawyers,)  foremen,  gang  foremen,  ox  drivers, 
mule  drivers,  horse  drivers.  Here  also  is  again  found  the  cook,  the 
"pot  cleaner,"  the  "grub  slinger"  and  other  servers  of  subsistence  to 
the  "timber  jackies"  of  the  various  camps. 

Any  material  reduction  in  the  consumption  of  wood-pulp  would 
affect  them,  would  it  not  ? 

None  of  them  publish  magazines,  do  they? 

This  brings  us  down  to  the  pulp  mill.  Of  course  each  mill  has 
a  hundred  or  more  men  employed  getting  its  wood  floated  down  the 
rivers  or  streams  during  the  spring  floods,  or  "freshets,"  if  their  trans- 
portation is  by  water.  They  are  log  "berlers"  "jam"  breakers,  shore 
"canters,"  "boomers,"  etc.  If  their  working  stock  comes  by  rail, 


172  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

there  are  "loaders,"  "unloaders,"  "yarders,"  etc.  Then  come  in  the 
thousands  of  mill  men,  engaged  on  the  work  of  reducing  the  wood  to 
pulp.  If  the  pulp  mill  has  not  a  paper  mill  in  immediate  connection, 
as  often  happens,  then  the  railroad  is  immediately  interested  in  the 
reduced  tonnage  haul,  and  likewise  every  man  who  works  for  the 
railroad  becomes  interested  industrially. 

Even  a  triple-expansion  brained  man  could  not  figure  these 
thousands  of  industrial  workers  into  the  ranks  of  those  "few  maga- 
zine publishers"  whom  Mr.  Hitchcock,  it  is  asserted,  repeatedly 
asserted,  would  alone  be  affected  by  his  urgently  urged  amendment. 

Next,  we  reach  the  paper  mill.  How  many  thousands  of  men  are 
employed  by  them,  I  do  not  know.  Of  the  many  other  thousands — 
wives  and  children  who  are  dependent  upon  those  workers  for  cloth- 
ing, shelter  and  subsistence — I  cannot  make  even  a  worthy  guess. 
The  reader  can  make  as  dependable  an  estimate  as  I,  probably  a 
more  dependable  one.  But  readers  will  unitedly  agree  that  all  these 
thousands  of  workmen,  wives  and  children  would  be  affected  by  any 
reduction  in  the  consumption  of  wood-pulp  paper. 

All  readers  will  also  agree  that  no  one  of  these  is  a  magazine 
publisher. 

Thus  far  we  have  seen,  in  considering  the  "reach"  of  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock's recommended  legislation,  that  it  would  have  affected  the 
earnings  and  the  lives  of  many  thousands  of  our  people — people  who 
cannot,  in  even  perfervid  imagination,  be  classed  among  his  "few 
magazine  publishers."  In  this  connection,  however,  should  be  noted 
the  fact  that  when  the  paper  leaves  the  paper  mills,  with  the  thous- 
ands dependent  upon  their  operation  and  success,  the  paper  proper 
passes  into  the  custody  of  the  transportation  companies — railroad 
and  water — chiefly  the  former — and  of  the  thousands  of  operatives 
they  employ.  Next  comes  the  thousands  engaged  in  the  cartage  inter- 
ests in  cities  throughout  the  country,  wherever  printing  is  done.  In 
cities  of  the  first  and  second  classes  there  is  usually  found  a  division 
of  the  cartage  interest  which  confines  its  service  almost  ex- 
clusively to  the  work  of  carting  paper  from  car,  depot,  dock  or  ware- 
house to  the  printing  plant  which  consumes  it. 

Here,  then,  in  the  last  two  classes  named,  must  be  found  several 
thousands  more  workmen  who  would  necessarily  be  adversely  affected 
by  a  shrinkage  of  thirty  to  fifty  per  cent  in  the  pulp  wood  cut 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  173 

Those  thousands,  mark  you,  do  not  include  the  thousands  of  women 
and  children  dependent  upon  the  earnings  of  those  workmen.  Yet 
they  would  necessarily  be  affected  by  any  shrinkage  in  wood- 
pulp  consumption. 

And  again  it  must  be  admitted  by  every  man — and  will  be  ad- 
mitted by  any  man  with  as  much  brains  as  directs  the  activities  of 
any  lively  angleworm — that  none  of  the  thousands  here  mentioned 
are  magazine  publishers.  None  of  them  could  possibly  be  of  the 
"few  magazine  publishers"  referred  to  by  Mr.  Hitchcock. 

So  far  we  have  touched  upon  only  the  elements  of  production. 
While  the  people  employed  in  the  several  divisions  of  the  pulp- wood 
industry  may  run,  numerically,  into  many  tens  of  thousands,  in  the 
great  division  of  the  printing  trades,  they  run  into  the  hundreds  of 
thousands.  I  refer  to  the  great  printing  and  publishing  trades — the 
trades  which  turn  the  pulp  paper  into  periodicals  and  books — the 
trades  whose  work  directly  educates  us. 

Before  attempting  to  designate  the  various  divisions  of  this  class, 
or  to  indicate  the  vast  multitude — both  men  and  women — to  whom 
they  give  employment,  I  desire  to  present  a  few  quotations,  showing 
that  these  trades  and  these  hundreds  of  thousands  of  employes  are, 
in  the  slang  language  of  the  street,  "onto"  not  only  the  controlling — 
the  ulterior — motives  of  Mr.  Hitchcock  but  also  that  they  know  and 
understand  and  feel  something  of  the  far-reaching  wreck  and  ruin  to 
homes  and  to  lives  which  legislation  of  the  nature  he  proposed  must 
bring  to  this  industrial  division  of  our  general  citizenship. 

Under  date  of  May  20,  1911,  Mr.  M.  H.  Madden  wrote  me  the 
following  letter.  While  Mr.  Madden  may  not  be  as  widely  known  as 
is  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock,  he  not  having  had  the  advantage 
of  a  federal  cabinet  position  to  broadcast  his  fame,  there  are  few  men 
better  known  among  the  personnel  of  the  printing  trades  than  is  Mr. 
Madden,  and  equally  few  men  there  are  who  are  better  informed  on 
the  cost  of  carriage,  handling  and  distribution  of  second-class  mail. 

In  this  letter  Mr.  Madden  speaks  particularly  of  the  alleged 
Postoffice  Department  "deficit. ' '  While  this  much-talked  of  ' 'deficit' ' 
is  made  the  subject  of  a  short  subsequent  chapter,  Mr.  Madden's 
letter  presents  several  other  points  trenchantly  pertinent  to  the  sub- 
ject we  are  now  considering,  to- wit :  that  the  printing  trades — all 
branches  and  classes  of  it,  from  the  pressfeeder  and  bindery  girl  to 


174  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

the   shop   superintendent  and   publisher — are  alive  to  the  dangers 
with  which  legislation  of  the  "rider"  character  is  fraught: 

CHICAGO,  May  20,  1911. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  GANTZ  — For  a  considerable  time  President  Taft  has  directed 
attention  to  a  supposed  deficit  in  the  Postoffice  Department  revenues,  he  accepting 
the  figures  of  his  Postmaster  General  that  the  amount  of  the  shortage  for  1909 
was  above  $17,000,000,  while  that  for  1910  was  cut  down  to  less  than  $6,000,000. 

An  authorized  statement  by  Mr.  Hitchcock,  sent  out  on  May  27,  1911, 
declares  that  for  the  six  months  of  191 1  there  is  a  surplus  in  postal  receipts  ranging 
from  $1,000,000  to  $3,000,000.  With  the  fact  kept  in  view  that  there  have  been 
increases  in  expenses  in  many  directions  and  the  further  fact  that  second-class 
mail  tonnage,  on  which  great  losses  occur — according  to  the  Hitchcock  plan  of 
keeping  books — has  increased,  the  manifest  inconsistency  involved  in  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock's discovery  is  too  transparent  to  permit  of  discussion. 

Factors  which  have  been  left  out  of  the  reckoning,  among  others  might  be 
mentioned  the  progressive  increased  amount  of  business  of  the  postal  department, 
with  but  slight  advance  in  the  percentage  of  cost  for  transacting  the  same;  a 
general  agitation  for  better  service  on  the  part  of  the  public  which  awakened  the 
authorities  to  a  fuller  responsibility  of  their  duty,  and  the  important  circum- 
stance that  there  has  been  a  new  alignment  of  the  House  and  Senate  Committees 
on  Postoffices  and  Postroads,  has  caused  a  moving-up  process,  we  might  say 
shaking-up  process,  in  methods  that  sadly  needed  furbishing  and  of  ideas  that 
required  practical  demonstration.  The  effect  of  improving  the  system  of  trans- 
mitting the  postal  funds  promptly  to  the  national  treasury  instead  of  leaving  the 
same  to  accumulate  in  the  common  centers,  where  they  were  earned,  is  seen  by  the 
immediate  wiping  out  of  the  need  for  a  balance  of  $10,000,000  with  which  to  do 
business.  Such  an  ancient  method  of  conducting  postal  business  would  probably 
do  in  the  period  when  the  pyramids  were  built,  but  that  system  had  finally  to 
surrender,  it  being  too  archaic  for  even  the  Postoffice  Department  to  adopt 

In  a  communication  to  me  under  date  of  August  9th,  1911,  Mr. 
Madden  gives  expression  to  the  following  very  informative  state- 
ments : 

In  connection  with  the  Hughes  postal  inquiry  I  would  like  to  inform  you 
of  the  total  addition  to  the  expense  of  conducting  the  Postoffice  Department  which 
became  effective  July  1,  1911.  You  may  avail  yourself  of  these  facts  in  your 
argument,  as  they  are  official,  orders  having  been  issued  by  Postmaster  General 
Hitchcock  for  these  additional  expenditures. 

The  sum  of  $1 ,200,000  is  to  be  devoted  to  increases  in  the  salaries  of  post- 
office  clerks  during  the  current  year,  while  $600,000  of  an  increase  will  go  to  city 
letter  carriers.  The  railway  mail  clerks  will  get  an  increase  of  only  $175,000, 
making  an  addition  to  the  salaries  of  the  three  groups  of  $1,975,000.  When  the 
rural  route  carriers  get  their  increase  of  $4,000,000  it  will  mean  an  addition  to  the 
four  groups  of  the  stupendous  sum  of  $5,975,000  to  the  annual  total.  The  figures 


POSTAL    RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS  175 

are  calculated  to  startle  the  ordinary  observer,  especially  when  there  has  been  so 
much  music  about  deficits. 

On  August  15th,  1911,  Mr.  M.  H.  Madden,  as  Secretary  of  the 
Independent  Postal  League,  wrote  the  Hon.  Daniel  A.  Campbell, 
Postmaster  of  Chicago,  a  lengthy  and  strong  letter,  in  response  to  the 
latter's  request  for  copies  of  former  issues  of  the  league's  bulletins. 
1  have  a  copy  of  that  letter  before  me  and  shall  take  the  liberty  to 
quote  a  few  of  its  relevant  paragraphs. 

After  explaining  the  reasons  why  it  was  impossible  for  him  to 
furnish  Postmaster  Campbell  a  file  of  the  league's  bulletins,  Mr. 
Madden  continues : 

"For  myself  I  have  given  second-class  postage  problems  some  study,  have 
written  articles  concerning  the  subject,  and  have  addressed  many  organizations 
interested,  in  various  portions  of  the  country.  In  this  connection  I  appeared 
before  President  Taft  as  a  representative  of  the  printing  trades  with  President 
George  L.  Berry  of  the  International  Printing  Pressmen's  Union  on  Feb.  23  last. 
We  protested  against  the  raise  to  4  cents  a  pound  on  advertising  pages  in  the 
magazines.  As  a  result  of  our  work,  more  than  10,000  telegrams  of  protest  were 
sent  to  Senators  and  members  of  the  House  from  organized  labor  men.  Two 
weeks  later  a  certain  'rider'  was  thrown  in  the  Senate.  The  Hughes  commission 
of  inquiry  into  the  cost  of  handling  second-class  matter  was  then  created.  In 
one  way  and  another  this  movement  has  been  kept  somewhat  active. 

"Some  weeks  ago  the  editors  of  union  labor  publications  of  the  country  met 
in  Chicago  and  formed  an  association  to  continue  this  work,  the  Independent 
Postal  League  being  thereby  relieved  of  the  task  of  instructing  working  people 
concerning  the  subject,  the  League  turning  over  to  the  editors,  the  data  it  had, 
consisting  of  documents,  official  reports,  etc. 

"President  Gompers  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  and  President  Woll 
of  the  International  Photo-Engravers'  Union  were  furnished  with  material  to 
present  before  the  sessions  of  the  Hughes  Commission.  The  National  Typothetae 
to  convene  in  Denver  will  also  use  data  supplied  by  the  League,  as  will  the  Inter- 
national Typographical  Union  at  San  Francisco ;  also  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  at  its  annual  meeting  at  Atlanta,  Ga. 

"In  this  country  there  are  2,000,000  organized  workingmen  affiliated  with 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor  and  500,000  who  are  unaffiliated.  These  are 
opposed  to  a  raise  in  postage  and  have  so  declared.  In  the  printing  trades  there 
are  more  than  400,000  of  the  best  paid  artisans  in  the  world  and  these  are  working 
in  opposition  to  a  raise,  and  since  they  produce  almost  a  billion  dollars'  worth  of 
printing  each  year  their  protest  is  worth  listening  to 

"As  workingmen  we  cannot  approve  of  the  inconsistency  shown  by  having 
a  pressman  produce  a  periodical  in  Canada  and  sending  it  through  the  mails  at 
i  cent  a  pound,  while  his  brother  pressman  in  the  United  States  would  be  forced 
to  pay  four  cents  a  pound  for  the  same  service.  And  the  "Canuck"  can  certainly 


176  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

do  it  at  a  profit.  Here  is  where  a  little  'reciprocity*  juice  would  taste  nectar-like 
for  the  Uncle  Sam  pressman.  For  several  years  our  big  post  office  officials  have 
been  telling  the  American  people  it  cost  more  than  9  cents  a  pound  to  haul  second- 
class  mail.  In  Canada  there  is  a  population  of  8,000,000  served  by  25,000  miles 
of  railway,  while  in  our  country  we  have  90,000,000  people  and  246,000  miles  of 
railroads.  In  the  United  States  we  print  500  periodicals  to  one  printed  in  the 
Dominion.  The  merits  of  the  question  are  so  obvious  that  there  is  no  chance  for 
a  controversy;  in  fact  there  can  be  no  dispute  on  a  matter  so  plain." 

Now,  see  here,  I  do  not  want  to  burden  you — you,  the  reader — 
with  quotations.  I  have  not  done  so  save  when  the  quotations  cover- 
ed the  point — our  point — better  than  I  could  cover  it  myself.  I  write 
up  to  a  point  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  and  then,  if  I  have  at  hand 
some  authority — some  more  conclusive  and  better  told  statement 
than  I  can  make  myself,  I  hand  it  to  you. 

So  please  do  not  skip  the  quotations  in  this  book.  The  meat  of 
it  is  in  the  quoted  matter,  not  in  what  I  have  said  or  may  say.  That 
is  why  I  desire  to  quote  further  just  here. 

Under  date  of  May  16,  1911,  Mr.  Hitchcock  wrote  over  the  signa> 
ture  of  his  Second  Assistant,  Joseph  Stewart,  the  following  letter, 
addressed  "To  Publishers."  Whether  or  not  it  was  sent  to  publishers 
in  general  or  only  to  "certain  monthly  and  semi-monthly  periodicals," 
I  do  not  know.  I  reprint  it  here  as  evidence  for  the  reader  in  proof 
of  the  tendency,  or  policy,  of  Mr.  Hitchcock  to  exercise  bureaucratic 
powers  in  administering  the  official  service  of  his  office — powers  not 
given  him  by  law. 

I  reprint  also  for  the  purpose  of  showing,  by  two  or  three  follow- 
ing quotations,  how  closely  Mr.  Hitchcock's  official  acts  are  being 
scanned  by  the  printing  trades  and  how  clearly  and  how  justly  they 
estimate  the  results  and  the  trade  and  industrial  effects  of  such  action. 

The  letter  signed  by  Mr.  Stewart  follows : 

POSTOFFICE  DEPARTMENT, 
SECOND  ASSISTANT  POSTMASTER  GENERAL, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  16,  1911 
Publisher,  Practical  Engineer,  Chicago,  111.: 

SIR. — Arrangements  are  being  made  by  the  Postoffice  Department  to  trans- 
port, after  June  30,  1911,  certain  monthly  and  semi-monthly  periodical  second- 
class  mail  matter  for  certain  states  by  fast  freight  to  a  number  of  central  dis- 
tributing points,  from  which  points  distribution  and  delivery  will  be  made  by  mail 
as  at  present. 

This  method  of  transportation  necessarily  being  somewhat  slower  than  the 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  177 

present  method  of  carriage  of  mail  throughout,  it  becomes  necessary  for  publish- 
ers to  rearrange  their  mailing  schedules  to  allow  an  earlier  delivery  to  the  post- 
office  of  mail  for  the  states  to  be  so  transported,  in  order  that  delivery  to  sub- 
scribers may  be  made  at  approximately  the  same  time  as  at  present. 

It  is  believed  that  an  advance  in  mailing  dates  of  from  three  to  six  days  will 
provide  the  necessary  margin  to  offset  the  slower  movement,  and  your  co-opera- 
tion to  that  extent  is  solicited. 

Specific  information  relative  to  the  states  affected  and  the  time  of  advance 
mailing  will  be  furnished  at  an  early  date.  Any  further  information  desired 
relative  to  this  matter  will  be  given  and  any  assistance  in  completing  arrange- 
ments gladly  supplied. 

The  favor  of  an  early  reply  is  requested. 

Very  respectfully, 

JOSEPH  STEWART, 
Second  Assistant  Postmaster  General. 

The  foregoing  letter  brought  a  flood  of  protests  in  reply.  Why 
should  it  not?  Why  does  Mr.  Hitchcock,  as  is  evidenced  by  the 
letter  of  his  Second  Assistant,  seek  to  make  such  an  unjust  discrimi- 
nation among  periodicals — a  discrimination  directly  contravening 
the  basic  principle  of  our  government? 

Among  the  replies  Mr.  Stewart  received  was  one,  a  copy  of  which 
follows : 

CHICAGO,  May  22,  1911. 
Hon.  Joseph  Stewart,  Second  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  Washington,  D.  C. 

DEAR  SIR. — We  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  16th,  and  regret 
that  an  early  reply,  as  requested,  is  but  partially  possible  at  present. 

You  tell  us  unequivocally,  if  we  interpret  your  letter  correctly,  that  our 
Postoffice  Department  in  rendering  service  to  subscribers  will  discriminate  against 
monthly  and  semi-monthly  periodicals  after  June  30th ;  that  certain  publications 
of  a  class,  issued  weekly,  will  be  favored  with  through  mail  service,  and  that  other 
publications  of  the  same  character  and  class,  issued  semi-monthly  or  monthly, 
shall  be  rendered  freight  service,  and  no  differential  rate  provided. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  a  distinction  directly  affecting  the  majority  of  the 
people  could  not  have  been  arbitrated,  and  thereby  avoided  a  period  of  distress. 

Yours  very  truly, 

CHICAGO  TRADE  PRESS  ASS'N, 
E.  R.  SHAW, 

President. 

Another  reply  follows.  It  is  from  the  Chicago  Printing  Trades, 
an  organization  which  Mr.  Madden,  previously  quoted,  represented 
at  Washington  in  his  conference  with  President  Taft  and  senators 
and  members  of  the  House. 


178  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

To  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock: — 

The  various  branches  of  labor  engaged  in  the  production  of  printing  in 
Chicago  number  more  than  50,000  highly  skilled  artisans  and  their  annual  output 
is  more  than  $100,000,000.  These  well-paid  working  people  declare — they 
knowing  it  to  be  a  statement  based  on  truth — that  the  contemplated  change  in 
the  method  of  distributing  their  product  will  interfere  disadvantageously  with 
their  opportunity  for  employment,  and  they  respectfully  appeal  to  the  postal 
authorities  to  pause  in  installing  a  system  that  is  calculated  to  work  great  harm 
to  their  industry.  Their  united,  emphatic  protest  is  entered  against  what  they 
feel  to  be  an  unwise  and  unnecessary  hampering  of  their  industry  and  they  ask 
that  their  appeal  be  heard  on  the  justice  of  their  claim. 

In  distributing  regular  publications  through  the  mails  the  factor  of  time  is 
most  valuable,  and  to  inaugurate  a  slower  schedule  would  greatly  reduce  the  cur- 
rent value  of  periodicals  and  curtail  the  influence  which  these  publications  now 
wield.  We  respectfully  direct  attention  to  the  injury  which  the  owners  of  publi- 
cations would  sustain  through  curtailment  of  their  earning  power,  as  this  would 
at  once  operate  adversely  to  labor.  In  fact  the  severest  effect  would  reach  the 
toiler. 

As  well-paid,  organized  workingmen  we  respectfully  call  attention  to  the 
policy  of  protection  which  has  enabled  our  country  to  flourish  almost  uninter- 
ruptedly for  a  half-century,  and  in  behalf  of  this  wise  system  we  ask  that  no  un- 
necessary interference  with  our  trade  be  inaugurated  by  those  to  whom  we  look 
with  expectation  to  forward  our  welfare  as  industrious  citizens. 

In  common  with  other  industries,  business  in  the  publishing  lines  is  far  from 
flourishing,  and,  while  our  rate  of  wages  is  conceded,  we  recognize  that  anything 
which  interferes  with  the  profits  and  success  of  employers  will  immediately  react 
upon  our  opportunity  for  employment.  It  is  upon  this  basis  that  we  plead,  and 
we  ask  you,  as  head  of  the  Postoffice  Department,  that  you  forego  instituting  the 
system  of  distributing  the  semi-monthly  and  monthly  publications  by  freight,  and 
continue  the  present  method  of  rapid-mail  service. 

Labor's  voice  is  raised  in  earnest  plea  for  what  it  considers  itself  competent 
to  speak  upon,  and  with  the  hope  that  you  will  aid  in  maintaining  for  us  our 
present  conditions,  which  we  esteem  necessary  for  our  welfare  and  the  welfare 
of  those  depending  upon  us,  we  leave  the  question  in  your  hands. 

MICHAEL  H.  MADDEN, 
Secretary  Independent  Postal  League. 

I  am  presenting  just  here,  only  local  protests — Chicago  protests. 
Similar  objections  were  heard  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  The 
Chicago  protest,  however,  would  not  be  complete  unless  we  presented 
the  resolutions  adopted  by  Typographical  Union  No.  16,  at  a  regular 
meeting  held  July  30,  1911.  It  applies  both  to  the  proposed  increase 
in  "second-  class  postage  rates  and  to  Mr.  Hitchcock's  unjust 
discrimination  in  distributing  periodicals: 

WHEREAS,  It  is  a  fundamental  economic  truth  that  anything  which  tends  to 


POSTAL    RIDERS    AND   RAIDERS.  179 

unduly  and  unjustly  raise  the  cost  of  distributing  the  product  of  labor  reduces  the 
opportunity  for  employment  of  those  concerned  in  the  industry  thus  affected,  and 
indirectly  becomes  a  menace  to  all  industry,  Chicago  Typographical  Union  No.  16, 
embracing  a  membership  of  more  than  4,000  skilled  craftsmen,  takes  this  method 
of  entering  its  emphatic  protest  against  any  increase  in  the  rate  for  second-class 
mail  matter;  and, 

WHEREAS,  The  proposed  routing  of  semi-monthly  and  monthly  publica- 
tions by  fast  freight  instead  of  by  the  regular  fast  mail  service  is  manifestly  unjust 
and  is  a  flagrant  discrimination  against  our  product,  this  organization  further 
condemns  those  who  contemplate  this  pernicious  innovation,  and  we  submit  that 
the  installation  of  this  system  by  the  Postoffice  Department  is  not  only  inimical 
to  our  welfare  as  workingmen  but  will  work  incalculable  injury  to  the  publishing 
interests  of  the  entire  country;  and, 

WHEREAS,  These  propositions  of  the  Postoffice  Department  deserve  only  the 
strongest  condemnation,  and  as  a  means  of  making  this  protest  effective, we  hereby 
invite  the  working  people  of  the  United  States  to  unite  with  us  in  a  movement 
having  for  its  purpose  the  overhauling  and  readjustment  of  the  postal  affairs  of 
this  country,  to  the  end  that  the  service  may  become  one  of  greater  convenience 
to  our  people  and  be  an  instrument  of  promotion  to  the  industries  of  our  country 
instead  of  a  leaden  handicap  on  our  industrial  progress  and  the  educational  im- 
provement of  all  the  people;  therefore,  be  it, 

Resolved,  That  for  the  protection  of  the  printing  industry  we  hereby 
instruct  our  delegates  to  the  next  annual  convention  of  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union  to  propose  the  following  for  the  consideration  of  that  body,  and. 
they  are  hereby  instructed  to  support  the  indorsement  of  the  same  by  the  said 
International  Typographical  Union  convention: 

Resolved,  That  the  International  Typographical  Union  emphatically 
opposes  any  advance  in  the  rate  of  postage  on  second-class  mail  matter,  and  that  it 
condemns  the  proposed  method  of  distributing  semi-monthly  and  monthly 
periodicals  by  fast  freight  instead  of  by  the  regular  fast  mail,  to  the  facilities  of 
which  they  are  entitled  under  the  law,  because  they  pay  for  the  same. 

The  foregoing  quotations  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the  printing 
trades  of  the  nation  are  awake  to  the  industrial  significance  of  legis- 
lation of  the  Hitchcock  "rider"  nature,  likewise  that  they  are  equally 
wideawake  to  the  purpose  of  Mr.  Hitchcock — ulterior  or  other — in  his 
attempt  to  stealth  such  legislation  into  operative  law. 

How  many  people  are  employed  in  the  printing  trades  in  this 
country?  I  do  not  know. 

In  Chicago  alone  there  are,  at  a  safe  estimate,  not  less  than 
40,000.  A  representative  of  the  organized  pressmen  of  New  York 
before  the  Postal  Commission  testified  that  there  were  12,000  press- 
men in  New  York  City  and  that  six  thousand  of  these  were  employed 
on  presses  which  print  monthly  and  weekly  magazines. 


180  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

I  have  no  later  statistics  by  me  than  a  1905  report  touching  the 
number  of  men  and  women  employed  in  the  printing  trades  in  this 
country.  From  the  figures  given  for  1905,  however,  it  may  be  con- 
servatively stated  that  the  number  of  persons  in  this  nation  who 
today  are  earning  their  shelter,  apparel  and  subsistence  (not  counting 
the  office  or  clerical  forces)  in  our  great  printing  and  publishing 
industries  is  somewheres  around  400,000.  If  the  counting-room  and 
general  office  forces  are  included  the  total  number — not  counting 
owners  or  publishers — will  reach  at  least  450,000. 

Now,  if  we  total  the  people  who  would  be  affected  by  legislation 
which  must  force  a  shrinkage  of  from  30  to  50  per  cent  in  the  con- 
sumption of  wood  pulp  paper,  counting  from  the  timber  cruisers  to 
the  publication  counting-rooms,  we  shall  find  that  total  to  be  not  less 
than  700,000— probably  800,000.  And,  mark  you,  you  fair-minded, 
conscientious  reader,  that  total  does  not  include  the  wives  and 
children  dependent  upon  the  vast  army  of  men  employed  in  our 
printing  industries — dependent  for  shelter,  clothing  and  food.  If 
they  are  counted,  the  figures  I  have  just  given  must  be  doubled — 
probably  tripled. 

So,  there  must  be  not  less  than  two,  probably  two  and  a  half, 
millions  of  people, — men,  women,  wives  and  children — who  would  be 
affected  by  legislation  of  the  Hitchcock  "rider"  character. 

It  is  needless,  but  I  must  still  point  out  that  not  one  of  these 
millions  of  industrial  earners  nor  their  dependents  who  would  be 
injuriously,  if  indeed  not  disastrously  affected,  by  legislation  of  the 
nature  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  so  persistently,  if  not  unscrupulously,  pressing 
to  force  into  operative  law,  is  a  magazine  publisher. 

Most  certain  is  it  that  none  of  this  vast  multitude  of  our  in- 
dustrial citizens  and  their  dependents  can  be  thought  of,  nor  even 
imagined,  as  being  counted  among  those  "few  magazine  publishers" 
who,  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  reported  to  have  repeatedly  asserted,  would 
alone  be  affected  by  his  proposed  harsh,  discriminating  and,  there- 
fore, unjust  legislation. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

MR.  HITCHCOCK  STILL  AFTER  THE   MAGAZINES. 

I  have  previously  intimated  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  still  devoting 
himself  to  forcing  his  ulterior  motive  into  operation,  either  as  law  or 
department  ruling.  In  evidence  of  this  I  shall  here  quote  from  his 
address  or  addresses  before  the  Hughes  Commission.  This  Commis- 
sion was  created  in  the  closing  hours  of  the  last  session  of  Congress 
— created  as  a  sort  of  cushion  or  pad  in  order  that  his  unconstitutional 
"rider*'  might  take  its  cropper  without  breaking  any  bones  or  pain- 
fully lacerating  the  official  feelings  of  Mr.  Hitchcock.  This  Hughes 
Commission  convened  in  New  York  City,  August  1,  1911.  Following 
is  Mr.  Hitchcock's  opening  address  before  it,  as  reported  by  the  New 
York  Times,  August  2.  The  italics  are  the  writers : — 

Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  opened  for  the  department.  He  said  his 
study  of  the  postage  rate  problem  had  led  him  to  believe  that  certain  fundamental 
principles  of  administration,  almost  new  to  the  Postoffice  Department  at  present, 
should  be  closely  adhered  to.  These  included  the  operation  of  the  service  on  a 
self-supporting  basis,  maintained  by  imposing  such  charges  as  would  yield  an 
income  equal  to  the  expenses.  They  included,  also,  he  said,  such  an  adjustment 
of  the  postage  charges  as  would  make  each  class  of  mail  matter  pay  for  its  own 
handling,  and  no  more.  He  would  further  have  the  levying  of  postage  rates 
made  on  the  basis  of  the  average  cost  of  handling  and  carriage  for  the  country  as  a 
whole,  and,  finally,  postal  laws  should  be  enacted  so  definite  in  character  as  to  be 
easy  of  interpretation  and  susceptible  of  uniform  enforcement. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  stated  in  this  connection  that  when  the  books  for  the  fiscal 
year  of  1911  are  closed  they  will  show  for  the  first  time  in  many  years  a  surplus  of 
postal  funds,  and  he  hoped  that  this  condition  would  become  permanent.  Mr. 
Hitchcock  opposed  any  new  classification  of  mail  matter  at  this  time,  saying  the 
present  classification  could  be  made  to  include  all  matter  now  admissible,  and  he 
doubted  the  expediency  of  attempting  a  revision.  He  then  sought  to  set  forth  the 
large  share  second-class  matter  has  in  the  burdens  of  the  department,  and  the 
small  percentage  it  pays  of  the  total  cost  or  even  of  its  own  cost. 

"During  1910,"  he  said,"there  were  carried  in  the  mail  8,310,164,623  pieces  of 
first-class  mail,  consisting  of  letters,  other  sealed  matter,  and  postal  cards. 
This  mail  averaged  in  weight  0.35  of  an  ounce  a  piece,  making  45.1  pieces  to  the 
pound.  The  cost  of  handling  and  carriage  for  this  mail  was  $86,792,511.35,  an 
average  of  47  cents  a  pound,  while  the  postage  charge  was  $154,796,668.08,  leaving 
a  clear  profit  of  $68,004,156.73. 

"During  the  same  year  there  were  carried  4,336,259,864  pieces  of  second-class 

181 


182  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

matter,  newspapers  and  other  periodical  publications,  averaging  3.33  ounces  a 
piece,  or  4.8  pieces  to  the  pound.  The  cost  of  handling  and  carriage  was  $80,- 
791,615.03,  or  a  little  less  than  9  cents  a  pound,  while  the  postage  return  was  only 
$10,607,271.02,  leaving  a  total  loss  of  $70,184,344.01. 

"From  a  review  of  the  rates  provided  for  the  several  classes  of  mail,  it  will 
be  observed  that  in  comparison  with  the  cent-a-pound  charge  for  second-class 
matter  the  rate  on  third-class  matter  is  700  per  cent,  higher ;  that  on  fourth-class 
matter  1,500  per  cent,  higher,  and  that  on  letter  and  other  first-class  matter 
3,100  per  cent,  higher.  While  it  is  true  that  the  expense  of  handling  and  carrying 
second-class  mail  is  less  than  for  any  other  class,  due  to  the  size  and  weight  of  single 
pieces,  to  relief  from  the  cancellation  of  stamps,  and  to  the  fact  that  a  consider- 
able part  of  the  bagging,  sorting,  and  labeling  in  the  offices  of  origin  is  done  by  the 
publishers,  nevertheless  a  charge  of  1  cent  a  pound  covers  but  a  small  fraction  of 
the  actual  cost.* 

"The  present  self-supporting  condition  of  the  service  is  made  possible  only 
by  the  fact  that  other  classes  of  mail,  particularly  the  first-class,  are  excessively 
taxed  to  make  up  the  loss  caused  by  the  inadequate  charge  on  the  second-class.  This 
will  be  better  understood  when  it  is  noted  that  although  first-class  matter  com- 
prised during  the  fiscal  year  1910  only  13.4  per  cent,  of  all  the  revenue-producing 
domestic  mail,  it  yielded  a  net  profit  of  $68,004,156.73,  while  second-class  matter, 
comprising  65.6  per  cent,  of  all  the  revenue-producing  domestic  mail,  yielded  but 
$10,607,271.02,  leaving  the  tremendous  loss  of  $70,184,344.01.  Thus  the  deficit 
caused  by  the  heavy  loss  on  the  handling  and  carriage  of  second-class  matter  was 
greater  than  the  profit  obtained  from  first-class  matter." 

Mr.  Hitchcock  here  made  a  plea  for  equalization  of  the  rate  on  second-class 
matter  on  the  ground  that  it  would  at  once  make  possible  the  reduction  of  letter 
postage  from  2  cents  to  1  cent  an  ounce.  This  reduction  would  come  about  from 
the  fact,  he  said,  that  the  present  profit  in  handling  first-class  matter  was  ap- 
proximately equal  to  the  loss  sustained  in  the  transportation  of  second-class  mail. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  said,  however,  that  he  did  not  believe  that  the  rate  for  second- 
class  mail  should  be  at  once  advanced  to  where  it  would  cover  the  cost  of  handling 
and  carriage,  although  that  should  be  the  ultimate  end  in  view. 

"For  the  present,"  said  he,  "an  increase  of  only  one  cent  a  pound  is  rec- 
ommended, thus  making  a  flat  rate  of  2  cents  a  pound,  which  should  be  regarded 
as  merely  tentative,  however,  leaving  for  future  determination  such  additional 
increase  as  may  be  found  necessary  to  meet  the  cost." 

The  Postmaster  General  served  notice  on  the  commission  that  if  by  any 
chance  it  should  see  fit  to  recommend  the  continuance  of  the  present  rate — a 
"merely  nominal  postage  rate,"  he  called  it  —  his  department  could  not  consistent - 


*Mr.  Hitchcock,  it  should  be  noted,  is  careful  in  giving  the  higher  per  cent,  of  rate 
which  the  third  and  fourth  classes  show  above  the  second  class  rate.  Beyond  the  bare 
statement  that  the  expense  of  handling  second  class  matter  "is  less"  than  for  other  classes, 
he  says  nothing  of  cost  of  carriage  and  handling.  His  own  figures  show  (see  preceding 
paragraph),  that  the  cost  of  carriage  and  handling  first-class  matter  is  422  per  cent,  higher 
than  his  own  absurd  cost-figure  of  9  cents  a  pound  (cost)  for  carriage  and  handling  second- 
class  and  4600  per  cent  higher  than  the  present  second  class  rate. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  183 

ly  do  otherwise  than  renew  its  recommendation  for  a  higher  rate  of  postage  on  the 
advertising  portions  of  magazines. 

I  need  make  no  comment  on  that  address  beyond  the  comment 
implied  in  the  phrases  and  wording  I  have  marked  for  italics.  That 
Mr.  Hitchcock  still  purposes  to  "put  over"  the  injustices  covered  in 
his  Senate  rider  amendment  to  the  postoffice  appropriation  bill  is 
made  baldly  clear.  That  he  still  is  working  that  "deficit"  as  a  sort 
of  "come-on"  to  his  purpose  is  equally  clear.  And  the  ridiculous,  if 
not  ludicrous,  feature  of  this  talk  before  the  commission  is  that  it 
comes  after  he  has  demonstrated  and  publicly  announced  that  there 
is  no  deficit  in  the  Postoffice  Department  for  the  fiscal  year,  1910-11. 

As  Mr.  M.  H.  Madden  states  in  a  letter  to  me,  printed  on  a  prev- 
ious page,  Mr.  Hitchcock  reports  a  profit  of  one  to  three  million  dollars 
for  the  fiscal  year  named. 

Later,  if  I  remember  rightly,  he  discovered  a  stealage — pardon 
me,  I  mean  he  discovered  an  "excess" — of  from  $9,000,000  to 
$14,000,000  in  railway  mail  pay. 

Just  in  this  connection  I  wish  to  say  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  is 
deserving  of  the  praise  and  commendation  of  every  one  of  us  American 
citizens  for  the  aggressive  way  in  which  he  has  cut  down  expenditures 
in  his  department  without  impairing  its  service.  Also  is  he  deserving 
of  equal  praise  and  commendation  from  us  for  his  vigorous  and 
fairly  successful  methods  of  going  after  that  railway  mail  haulage 
steal,  which  has  been  going  on  for  a  time  to  which  the  younger 
generation  of  our  citizens  wots  not  of.  Although  I  may  adversely 
criticise  a  man,  as  in  this  volume  I  have  criticised  Mr.  Hitchcock,  I 
like  the  man  who  puts  up  a  stiff  fight  for  a  cause,  even  though  I 
believe  his  cause  is  wrong.  Candidly  I  can  see  no  reason  why  Mr. 
Hitchcock  and  his  predecessor  postmaster  generals  should  so  worry 
themselves  over  a  "deficit"  in  the  Postoffice  Department — a  depart- 
ment in  which  a  surplus  should  never  be  expected  and  never  allowed  to 
become  permanent. 

But  our  present  Postmaster  General  has,  by  his  aggressive 
action  and  close  scrutiny  of  the  loose,  wastful  methods  under  which 
the  vast  business  of  his  department  is  carried  on,  disposed  of  the 
"deficit"  and  found  a  surplus. 

In  this  he  has  done  what  his  predecessors  failed  to  do. 

For  this  he   merits  our  highest   praise   and  commendation. 


184  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Personally  I  yield  it  to  him,  untrammeled  and  in  full  meed.  I  ob- 
ject only  to  his  attempt  to  saddle  upon  second-class  mail — the  one- 
cent-a-pound-matter — the  burden  of  recouping  the  government  for 
the  losses  on  rural  route  and  star  route  service  and  the  railway  mail 
pay  stealage.  I  object  because  I  not  only  believe,  but  I  know  as 
comprehendingly  and  as  comprehensively  as  does  he,  that  the  second- 
class  matter  carried  in  the  mails  today  at  one  cent  a  pound  should 
be  carried  and  handled  at  a  profit  at  that  rate. 

I  also  know  that  just  as  second-class  mail  (periodicals),  is  cut 
down  in  distribution  in  just  about  the  same  proportion  will  the  revenue 
from  first,  third  and  fourth  class  mail  be  cut  down. 

It  is  because  of  this  firm  belief,  that  I  oppose  Mr.  Hitchcock's, 
to  me,  absurd  purpose  and  attempt  to  make  "each  division  or  class 
of  mail  pay  for  its  carriage  and  handling." 

I  am  also  opposing  his  manifest  attempt  to  "play  favorites"  in 
legislation  and  to  secure  bureaucratic  powers  for  his  department — 
in  contravention  of  my  constitutional  rights — to  your  constitutional 
rights. 

I  take  the  following  from  the  New  York  Call  of  August  26.  The 
Call  captions  it  as  "Hitchcock's  Sum  Up."  It  evidences  the  fact  that 
he  still  follows  his  folly — that  he  is  still  after  those  "few  magazine 
publishers"  and  after  them,  too,  on  his  "rider"  lines. 

The  Call  reports  as  follows: 

"The  attorneys  for  the  magazines,"  said  Postmaster  Hitchcock  in  sum- 
ming up  the  government's  case,  "have  presented  this  matter  of  advertising 
in  magazines  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  the  impression  that  there  is  a  controversy 
over  it.  There  is  none.  The  department  knows  that  the  advertising  matter  in 
magazines  produces  first-class  mail  and  that  the  postoffice  is  benefited  in  that  way. 
The  important  question  is:  What  effect  will  a  whole  increase  of  1  cent  a  pound 
have  on  the  advertising?  Will  it  be  the  means  of  stopping  it? 

"We  feel  that  advertising  would  not  be  diminished  by  such  an  increase  and 
if  such  is  the  case,  all  this  information  which  we  have  heard  today,  interesting  as  it 
may  be,  is  not  to  the  point.  Repeatedly  we  have  heard  the  general  argument 
against  an  increase  in  rates  as  though  our  recommendation  is  for  a  general  in- 
crease.  We  don't  want  that  at  all.  What  we  are  driving  at  is  a  readjustment. 
We  are  not  trying  to  economize  or  save  money.  We  have  done  that  to  the  best 
of  our  ability  already  and  want  simply  to  increase  the  second-class  rate  so  that  the 
first  will  pay  for  itself,  believing  that  in  this  way  the  greater  number  of  people  will 
be  served." 

If  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  correctly  reported  in  the  above,  it  would 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  185 

appear  that  something  of  a  change  has  taken  place  in  his  mental 
landscape  since  he  put  his  "rider"  on  the  Senate  speedway  during  the 
closing  hours  of  the  last  session  of  Congress.  "The  department 
knows  that  the  advertising  matter  in  magazines  produces  first-class 
mail,"  he  now  says. 

Did  the  department  know  that  fact  when  that  "rider"  was  on  the 
speedway  ?  It  most  certainly  did,  if  it  then  knew  anything — that  is 
anything  about  the  sources  of  postal  revenues.  Did  Mr.  Hitchcock  or 
any  of  his  assistants,  at  the  time  referred  to,  make  any  vehement 
declaration  of  that  knowledge — that  advertising  matter  in  magazines 
produces  first-class  revenue  ?  If  he  or  his  assistants  did  so,  no  one  has 
reported  the  fact  of  having  heard  such  declaration. 

In  March,  Mr.  Hitchcock  battles  valiantly  to  have  the  adver- 
tising pages  of  magazines  taxed  four  cents  a  pound  for  carriage  and 
distribution.  At  that  time  he  "estimated"  that  such  increase  in  the 
mail  rate  on  the  advertising  " sheets"  of  magazines  would  be  equivalent 
to  a  rate  of  "about  two  cents  a  pound"  on  the  entire  magazine.  As 
about  one-half  the  full  weight  of  our  leading  magazines — the  maga- 
zines which  Mr.  Hitchcock,  as  previously  stated,  appears  to  be 
"after" — is  in  their  advertising  pages,  his  method  of  "estimating" 
must  have  been  somewhat  baggy  at  the  knees  last  March.  Any 
seventh  or  eighth  grade  grammar  school  pupil  could  have  told  him 
that  a  four-cent  rate  on  one-half  the  weight  and  a  one-cent  rate  on 
the  other  half  is  equivalent  to  a  flat  rate  of  two  and  one-half  cents 
on  the  full  weight. 

However,  we  may  leave  that  pass.  It  is  past — has  washed  into 
the  drift  of  time.  If  the  Call  correctly  reports  him,  he  is  now  willing, 
or  was  willing  on  August  25,  1911,  to  accept  a  flat  rate  of  two  cents 
a  pound  on  all  second-class  matter.  That  shows  some  improvement 
over  his  "estimate"  of  March  last.  It  would  seem  that  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock is  getting  down  nearer  the  tacks  in  this  second-class  mail  rate 
question,  and,  as  he  has  got  rid  of  that  annoying  "deficit,"  it  can  be 
hoped  that  he  may  yet  see  the  fact — see  that  a  one-cent-a- pound-rate 
is  ample  to  cover  the  cost  of  carriage  and  handling  of  second-class 
mail  matter. 

Still,  we  must  not  be  overconfident  about  what  Mr.  Hitchcock 
may  or  may  not  do.  Regardless  of  what  he  said  or  may  have  said 
before  the  Hughes  Commission  at  its  recent  session,  it  would  appear 


186  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

that  he  is  still  gunning  for  those  independent  magazines  which  have 
been  guilty  of  telling  the  truth  about  both  official  and  private  cor- 
ruptionists  and  corruption  and  also  guilty  of  turning  the  sandblast 
of  publicity  on  the  veneer  and  varnish  under  which  has  been  hiding 
much  nastiness — political,  financial  and  other — in  this  country.  I  say 
it  appears  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  still  after  those  magazines.  If  such 
is  not  the  fact,  then  why  does  he  and  the  orators  and  exhorters  of  his 
department  go  junketing  about  the  country  lecturing  and  hectoring 
postmasters,  instead  of  staying  at  home  and  attending  to  depart- 
ment affairs?  If  he  is  not  on  the  same  trail  he  "caught  up"  last 
March,  why  are  he  and  his  assistants  trying  so  hard  to  work  up 
sentiment  favorable  to  an  increase  in  second-class  mail  rates  and  a 
decrease  of  fifty  per  cent  in  first-class  rates?  Has  any  considerable 
number  of  our  people  been  complaining  about  the  first-class  or  letter 
postage  rate?  If  there  has  been  such  complaints  The  Man  on  the 
Ladder  has  not  heard  of  them.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  known  fact 
that  millions  of  our  people  have  protested  and  are  still  protesting 
against  any  raise  in  the  second-class  mail  rate.  Why,  then,  in  face 
of  these  facts,  is  Mr.  Hitchcock  working  so  hard,  so  industriously  and 
so  adroitly,  if  not,  indeed,  craftily,  to  get  the  vast  personnel  of  his 
department,--- carriers,  rural  routers,  star  routers,  railway  mail  clerks 
and  postmasters — postmasters,  from  Hiram  Hairpin  at  Crackerville, 
Ga.,  all  the  way  up — fourth,  third,  second  class  postmasters  to  the 
first-class  postmasters  in  our  larger  cities — why,  I  ask,  is  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock working  so  strenuously  to  get  the  vast  political  machine  of 
his  department  lined  up  against  the  protest  of  millions  of  our  people, 
unless  he  is  still  after  those  pestiferous,  independent  magazines  ? 

Why,  again,  it  may  be  asked,  are  he  and  his  assistants  coaching 
the  220,000  clerks  of  his  department  and  the  60,000  postmasters, 
assistant  postmasters,  etc.,  on  his  "staff"  to  put  up  a  promotion  talk 
for  a  one-cent  rate  on  first-class  (letter  or  sealed)  matter?  It  should 
be  a  one-cent  rate.  Nobody  at  all  informed  as  to  mail  service  rates 
and  revenues  will  question  that.  But  it  is  equally  true  that,  up  to  a 
recent  date,  there  have  been,  comparatively  speaking  (the  comparison 
being  with  the  millions  protesting  against  an  increase  in  the  second- 
class  rate)  but  few  complaints  and  complainants  against  the  present 
rate  of  two  cents  for  carrying  and  handling  a  letter. 

Why,  then,  J  ask,  is  Mr.  Hitchcock  so  actively  cranking  up  his 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  187 

departmental  political  machine  to  make  neighborhood  runs  and  do 
some  hill  climbing  in  advocacy  of  that  one-cent  rate  for  first-class 
matter?  Yes,  why? 

Is  it  a  legitimate  assumption  to  say  that  the  present  agitation  fo* 
a  lowered  rate  on  first-class  matter  found  origin  in  Mr.  Hitchcock? 
If  it  is,  then  what  is  he  after? 

To  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  it  looks  as  if  he  was  still  after  those 
magazines  which  have  exposed — yes,  even  displayed — a  weakness  for 
telling  the  truth  about  men  and  conditions.  Otherwise,  why  should 
he  be  arguing  the  postal  "deficit"  in  March  as  cause  and  reason  for  his 
urgent  efforts  to  make  operative  law  out  of  that  unconstitutional 
"rider"  and  now  asking  for  a  flat  rate  of  two  cents  on  second-class, 
and  advocating  a  cut  of  fifty  per  cent  in  first-class,  or  letter,  postage 
rates  ? 

In  his  January-February-March  talk,  the  "deficit"  was  the 
substructure  of  it  all.  By  attending  strictly  to  what  the  people  under- 
stand as  a  Postmaster  General's  business,  Mr.  Hitchcock  faded  the 
then  $6,000,000  deficit  into  a  few  hundred  thousand  surplus,  for  the 
fiscal  year  recently  ended.  For  this  he  deserves  our  highest  com- 
mendation. He  has  mine.  Why? 

Because  Mr.  Hitchcock  in  converting  that  deficit  into  a  surplus 
has  done  just  what  any  one  of  his  predecessors  could  have  done  in 
any  year  during  the  past  thirty-five,  if  they  had  tried,  and  not  been 
interfered  with  by  dirty  politics  and  dirty  politicians. 

Still,  from  the  ladder  top,  it  looks  as  if  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  after 
some  one  or  ones.  If  my  surmise  is  correct,  who  is  it  he  is  after,  if 
not  those  publishers  of  magazines  who  are  educating  us  as  to  the  wrong 
and  right  of  things  in  this  government  of  ours  ? 

That  is  for  you  to  say,  reader.  That  you  may  not  think  that  the 
opinion  just  expressed  is  far  fetched  or  an  "individual"  to  bolster  an 
opinion  of  the  writer,  I  shall  here  quote  a  few  paragraphs  from  an 
October  issue  of  the  Farm  Journal  of  Philadelphia.  The  paragraphs 
are  from  an  article  written  by  Mr.  Wilmer  Atkinson,  the  Farm  Journal 
editor  and  publisher. 

I  have  on  a  previous  page  referred  to  and  quoted  Mr.  Atkinson, 
and  here  I  wish  to  emphasize,  if  my  earlier  reference  did  not  do  so, 
that  Mr.  Wilmer  Atkinson  is  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best,  informed 
men  in  this  country  on  cost  of  second-class  mail  carriage,  handling 


188  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

and  distribution.  Mr.  Atkinson  must  also  be  credited  with  an  acu- 
men in  watching  and  divining — sizing  up — the  purpose  and  intent  of 
our  Postoffice  Department  that  is  equaled  by  few,  if  any,  other  men 
in  this  country,  Postmaster  Generals  not  excepted.  I  have  been 
studying  this  question  for  years.  Mr.  Atkinson  has  studied  it  for 
more  years,  and  he  has  studied  it,  too,  from  a  business  man's — a 
publisher's — viewpoint,  as  he  has  been  compelled  to  do,  being  the 
directing  head  of  one  of  the  most  widely  circulated  and  read  farm 
journals  in  this  country. 

That  aside,  my  purpose  here  is  to  reprint  a  few  paragraph 
excerpts  from  a  recent  (October,  1911)  issue  of  the  Farm  Journal — 
an  editorial  written  by  Mr.  Atkinson  himself  and  which  shows  that  this 
astute  student  of  the  present  federal  postal  affairs  corroborates  the 
position  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  has  taken — which  supports  the 
statement  previously  made  that  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  still  gunning  for 
those,  to  him,  objectionable  magazines. 

The  following  is  from  the  October  issue  of  the  Farm  Journal, 
under  the  heading  of  "Our  Monthly  Talk:" 

In  response  to  invitation  a  number  of  gentlemen  interested  in  postal  ques- 
tions came  together  for  informal  conference  at  North  View,  the  summer  residence 
of  the  undersigned,  on  September  20  and  21. 

Those  who  met  are  the  official  representatives  of  the  following  associations: 

The  National  Fraternal  Press  Association. 

The  Federation  of  Trades  Press  Association. 

The  Ohio  Buckeye  Press  Association,  and  the  Weekly  Country  Press  of  other 
states. 

The  National  Catholic  Editors'  Association. 

The  United  Typothetae  of  America. 

These  gentlemen  constitute  a  portion  of  the  Publishers'  Commission  now  in 
process  of  formation.  The  representative  of  the  American  Medical  Editors' 
Association  was  unable  to  be  present  on  account  of  a  pressing  engagement,  and 
the  member  representing  The  Associated  Advertising  Clubs  of  America  was  absent 
in  Europe. 

This  was  the  initial  effort  of  the  commission  to  bring  the  entire  publishing 
fraternity  of  the  country  into  such  unity  of  spirit  and  purpose  that  something 
effective  may  be  accomplished  toward  establishing  not  only  just  and  honorable, 
but  amicable  and  pleasant,  relations  with  the  Postoffice  Department;  to  bring 
publishers  of  the  different  classes  into  harmony,  in  order  that  they  may  stand 
and  act  together  for  the  protection  and  furtherance  of  their  common  interests,  and 
for  the  cultivation  of  fraternal  feelings  among  themselves. 

There  were  three  meetings  held,  two  on  the  20th  and  another  on  the  morning 
of  the  21st.  After  much  earnest  and  harmonious  discussion,  it  was  decided  that 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  189 

the  great  need  of  publishers  at  this  time  is  to  have  the  light  turned  upon  postal 
affairs,  so  that  they  may  know  where  they  are  at.  To  best  accomplish  this  pur- 
pose it  was  thought  that  there  should  be  a  Publishers'  bureau  established  at 
Washington,  in  charge  of  a  first-class  man,  who  would  be  the  collector  and  distrib- 
utor of  information  regarding  postoffice  doings,  rulings,  hearings  and  proposed 
postal  legislation;  this  bureau  also  to  publish  a  paper  for  circulation  among 
publishers  of  all  classes  throughout  the  United  States,  which  xvould  keep  them 
thoroughly  informed  as  to  postoffice  rules,  regulations,  proceedings  and  acts  of 
every  description. 

Much  of  the  information  publishers  get  now  is  fragmentary,  uncertain,  often 
considerably  warped  and  belated  cold-storage  news,  void  of  substantial  life- 
sustaining  qualities.  The  annual  reports  of  the  department  in  which  publishers 
are  most  vitally  interested  are  less  complete  than  formerly.  Many  important  facts 
do  not  appear  in  them.  For  instance,  no  statement  is  ever  made  as  to  the  amount 
of  first-class  matter  originated  by  the  second-class,  none,  or  very  little,  account  is 
made  of  it.  No  attempt  has  ever  been  made  to  gather,  much  less  publish,  statis- 
tics on  the  subject. 

Formerly  a  list  was  accessible  of  publications  annually  thrown  out  of  the 
mails  at  second-class  rates,  but  not  in  recent  years. 

The  report  of  the  Third  Assistant  Postmaster-General  in  1897  comprises  97 
pages  of  compact  statements  and  postal  information  in  small  type;  that  for  1901, 
133  pages;  while  those  for  1909  and  1910  contain  only  60  and  65  pages  in  larger 
type,  respectively.  I  am  not  censuring  Mr.  Britt  in  this  matter,  but  simply 
stating  facts. 

Then  as  to  the  rulings,  laws  and  regulations,  there  is  not  a  publisher  living 
who  knows  what  they  are,  or  can  definitely  ascertain  what  they  are,  from  month  to 
month.  They  are  liable  to  change  without  the  publishers  being  informed  directly 
of  the  change.  What  purported  to  be  "The  Postal  Laws  and  Regulations  Relating 
to  the  Second-class  of  Mail  Matter"  was  issued  in  1910,  but  in  it  the  law,  rulings 
and  regulations  are  so  jumbled  up  together  that  it  is  difficult  for  a  publisher  to 
know  which  is  which ;  instead  of  being  illuminating  and  helpful,  this  compendium 
is  confusing  and  involved  in  obscurity.  It  is  a  well  recognized  legal  maxim,  that 
"where  the  law  is  uncertain  there  is  no  law." 

Publishers  have  not  known  that  an  active  propaganda  in  favor  of  a  higher 
rate  has  been  in  progress  ever  since  Congress  adjourned,  but  such  is  the  fact.  The 
Postmaster  General  went  before  the  Hughes  Commission  and  advocated  it. 

The  Third  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  in  the  early  summer,  made  an 
address  before  some  publishers  in  Chicago,  wherein  he  stated  that  it  was  the 
purpose  of  the  Postmaster  General  "to  adjust  postage  rates  based  upon  the 
principle  of  the  payment  on  each  class  of  mail  matter  of  a  rate  of  postage  equal 
to  the  cost  of  handling  and  carriage,  and  no  more,  and  that  one  class  of  mail 
matter  shall  not  be  taxed  to  meet  deficiencies  caused  by  art  inadequate  rate  on 
another  class,"  meaning  by  this  that  the  rate  must  be  raised  on  second-class 
matter  and  lowered  on  the  first  class. 

General  DeGraw,  Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  in  an  address  before 


190  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

the  West  Virginia  Association  of  Postmasters,  stated  the  purpose  of  the  Post- 
master General  to  be  exactly  what  Mr.  Britt  declared  it  to  be ;  and  he  had  the 
postmasters  pass  a  resolution  indorsing  the  Postmaster  General,  and  even  as  late 
as  September  22,  at  Milwaukee,  he  advocated  ''the  crystalization  of  the  proposed 
increase  in  second-class  mail  rates  into  law.1' 

Jesse  L.  Suter,  representing  the  Postoffice  Department,  brought  greetings 
from  the  Postmaster  General,  to  a  round-up  of  postmasters  in  Michigan  in  August 
last,  and  said  that  "the  great  subsidy  extended  the  publishers  in  the  form  of 
a  ridiculously  small  rate  of  postage  is  unreasonable.  Were  the  publishers  required 
to  pay  more  in  proportion  to  what  it  actually  costs  the  government  to  transport 
their  products,  the  people  of  the  United  States  would  be  benefited.  Every  man, 
woman  and  child  in  the  United  States  is  taxed  seventy-three  cents  by  way  of  his  letter 
postage  over  and  above  the  cost  of  carrying  his  own  letters  in  order  to  meet  the 
deficiency  of  underpaid  second-class  matter."*  And  then,  of  course,  the  post- 
masters passed  a  resolution  thanking  Mr.  Suter  for  his  "timely  hints  relative  to 
second-class  matter  and  commending  the  Postmaster  General." 

On  August  22  and  23,  there  was  a  postmasters'  convention  at  Toledo,  Ohio, 
at  which  a  resolution  was  proposed  complimenting  the  Postmaster  General  "for 
his  efforts  to  bring  about  a  fair  compensation  from  those  enjoying  the  benefits  of 
second-class  rates." 

James  B.  Cook,  Superintendent  of  the  Division  of  Postoffice  Supplies, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  also  addressed  a  postmasters'  convention  in  the  West,  in 
which  he  said:  "There  is  one  thing  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  do — it  is  a  simple  thing 
and  one  that  should  be  near  to  your  hearts.  Certain  publishers  have  attempted 
to  create  public  sentiment  against  an  increase  of  postage  on  advertising  matter 

in  magazines Many  of  us  believe  that  the  postage  rate  is  class 

legislation  of  the  rankest  kind  in  favor  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  masses. 
Talk  to  your  business  men  about  it ;  the  Postmaster  General  is  going  to  -win  this 
fight  because  he  is  in  the  right.  Tell  the  business  men  that  the  Postmaster  General 
feels  that  he  is  entitled  not  only  to  their  moral  but  their  active  support." 

At  how  many  other  state  conventions  the  postmasters  have  been  prompted 
to  pass  resolutions  and  have  been  addressed  by  Washington  officials  endorsing 
"the  great  fight"  the  Postmaster  General  is  making  for  a  higher  postage  rate, 
deponent  sayeth  not. 

Thus  it  is  that  an  energetic  campaign  has  been  carried  on  by  the  Postmaster 
General  during  the  summer,  postmasters  being  urged  to  pass  resolutions  and 
"talk  to  business  men"  in  favor  of  an  increase  of  postage  rate  on  second-class 
matter  in  order,  no  doubt,  to  be  ready  when  Congress  meets  to  put  the  measure 
through. 

In  confirmation  of  the  above,  word  comes  from  Washington  to  the  effect  that 

*Mr.  Suter  must  certainly  have  been  wind-jamming  a  little.  ' '  Every  man,  woman  and 
child"  pays  at  a  maximum  rate  of  2  cents  an  ounce  or  fraction  thereof.  That  is  at  the  rate 
of  32  cents  a  pound.  Mr.  Hitchcock's  figures  assert,  that  it  costs  "47  cents  a  pound" 
to  carry  and  handle  the  letters  for  "every  man,  woman  and  child"  —  that  is,  presuming  they 
all  write  letters.  The  letter  writers,  it  appears  then,  pay  only  2  cents  for  a  service  whicii 
costs  nearly  3  cents. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  191 

"there  has  been  no  cessation  in  the  activities  of  the  department  to  make  prepa- 
rations to  renew  vigorously  at  the  forthcoming  Congress  the  fight  for  an  increased 
rate.  If  the  publishers  feel  that  they  have  won  their  fight  and  are  resting  easily, 
they  will  have  an  awakening  ere  the  year  is  over." 

While  it  would  not  be  possible  or  advisable  under  the  circumstances  to 
circumscribe  the  activities  of  our  energetic  Postmaster  General,  certainly  it  would 
be  a  prudent  and  wise  step  for  publishers  to  place  themselves  in  position  to  know 
what  is  going  on  injurious  to  their  own  interests  and  that  of  the  people  of  the 
whole  country. 

Now,  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  a  brave  and  persistent  fighter  and  as  such  will  respect 
and  honor  those  who  will  stand  up  like  men  and  defend  their  cause,  and  can  have 
only  contempt  for  those  who  will  meekly  sit  still  while  being  pummeled  to  death. 

//  publishers  are  ever  to  establish  honorable  and  just  and  amicable  and  pleasant 
relations  with  the  Postoffice  Department  they  must  show  that  they  are  men  with  red 
blood  in  their  veins. 

The  essential  thing  will  be  to  get  the  right  man  to  represent  us  at  Washington 
but  this  ought  not  to  be  difficult. 

Among  his  duties  will  be  to  make  inquiry  into  postal  matters  of  every  de- 
scription that  in  any  way  relate  to  the  publishing  business  and  to  publish  them ; 
publish  orders  of  the  department ;  rulings  and  proposed  rulings ;  attend  hearings 
and  publish  the  proceedings ;  keep  abreast  of  measures  introduced  in  Congress  and 
proposed  by  the  Postoffice  Department  bearing  upon  the  publishing  business; 
keep  subscribers  fully  posted  on  everything  that  occurs  at  Washington  or  else- 
where that  concerns  them ;  to  advocate  such  reforms  in  the  postal  service  as  the 
people  ask  for  and  need,  and  finally  to  rally  the  whole  fraternity  to  resist  any 
threatened  or  actual  encroachment  upon  the  freedom  and  independence  of  the 
press. 

Here  are  some  of  the  qualifications  necessary  for  the  person  fit  to  take  charge 
of  the  Washington  office:  Some  experience  as  editor  and  publisher;  he  must  be 
honest  and  just;  patriotic;  discreet;  firm;  tactful;  must  have  power  as  a  writer; 
character  as  a  gentleman ;  vision,  courage,  one  who  cannot  be  either  frightened  or 
cajoled;  and  finally,  one  who  recognizes  the  fact  that  liberty  of  the  press  is  a 
principle  that  lies  at  the  foundation  of  republican  institutions,  and  must  not  be 
encroached  upon,  or  placed  in  jeopardy. 

I  have  made  the  above  quotation  from  Mr.  Atkinson  to  evidence 
the  fact  that  he  and  others  support  my  view  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's 
attitude  now,  in  relation  to  this  second-class  mail  rate  question.  Mr. 
Atkinson  shows  quite  conclusively  that  our  Postmaster  General  is 
still,  and  stealthily,  running  the  trail  which  the  Penrose-Overstreet 
Commission  scented  for  him  and  urges  publishers  and  the  printing 
trades  to  be  on  their  guard. 

Some  pages  back  I  adverted  to  the  fact  that  the  deficit  of  $6,000,- 
000  for  the  fiscal  year  1909-10  was  the  ground-plan  of  Mr.  Hitchcock 


192  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

for  an  increase  in  second-class  postage  rates.  That  deficit  he  himself 
has  converted  into  a  surplus  of  several  thousands  of  dollars. 

Why,  then,  is  he  still  trailing  those  independent  periodicals? 

Why,  too,  it  is  relevant  to  ask,  did  he  so  suddenly  hear  that  the 
people  of  this  country  were  crying  for  a  cut  of  fifty  per  cent  in  first- 
class,  or  sealed,  postage  rates,  much  as  the  advertiser  declares  the 
children  cry  for  Castoria?  To  the  Man  on  the  Ladder  it  appears  that 
what  Mr.  Hitchcock  heard  must  have  been  a  "far  cry" — very  far.  vSo 
far,  indeed,  that  no  one  who  did  not  have  his  ear  to  an  ulterior  motive 
could  hear  it. 

You  will  observe  that  he  worries  a  couple  of  years  over  a  "deficit" 
—a  little  runabout,  five  H.  P.  deficit  of  $6,000,000.  Then  by  doing 
a  few  things  which  common  business  sense  imperatively  dictates 
should  be  done,  and  which,  it  is  well  known  among  competents,  any 
one  of  a  dozen  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's  predecessors  should  have  done,  or 
could  have  done  had  not  dirty  politics  blocked  them — by  doing  just 
a  few  of  the  business  things  which  every  student  of  the  question  knows 
could  have  been  done  and  should  have  been  done  years  ago,  Mr. 
Hitchcock  lost  his  "deficit" — his  ground-plan  for  attack  on  second- 
class  rates — and  found  a  surplus  instead. 

The  Man  on  the  Ladder  does  not  desire  to  appear  impertinent 
nor  even  finicky  in  his  type  conversation  on  this  point,  but  in  simple 
justice  to  the  magnitude  of  the  question  he  is  constrained  to  ask :  Is  a 
"deficit"  so  essentially  necessary  to  Mr.  Hitchcock  in  a  fight  to  put 
certain  independent  periodicals  on  the  financial  skids  that  he  must, 
losing  one  deficit,  immediately  set  about  creating  another"? 

That  is  just  what  his  move  to  cut  the  mail  rate  on  first-class, 
or  sealed,  matter  must  lead  to — lead  to  temporarily  of  course. 
In  the  end  a  one-cent  rate  per  ounce  or  fraction  thereof  will  win  to 
a  paying  basis.  That  rate  will  mean  a  cut  of  sixteen  cents  a 
pound  from  thirty-two  cents  a  pound  for  carriage  and  handling 
letters  and  other  sealed  matter  of  the  first-class.  Certainly  the  post- 
office  can  haul  and  distribute  such  matter  at  a  profit  at  that  rate. 
However,  it  is  equally  certain  that  the  department  will  not  handle 
such  matter  at  a  profit  for  two,  three  or  more  years — not  so  handle  it 
until  numerous  causes  of  waste,  inhering  in  the  department  for  years, 
are  sloughed  and  the  department  put  under  strict  business  manage- 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  193 

ment,  and  not  left  under  partisan  political  management  as  now  and  as 
it  has  been  for  thirty-five  or  forty  years. 

With  the  postal  and  post  card  facilities  now  furnished  at  the 
one-cent  rate,  no  considerable  number  of  our  people  are  complaining 
about  the  two-cent  rate  for  letters  and  other  sealed  matter.  But  all 
will  welcome  a  flat  rate  of  one  cent  on  such  matter  at  the  present 
weights.  If  they  get  it,  either  with  or  without  Mr.  Hitchcock's 
assistance,  the  people  will  be  getting  only  what  they  are  entitled  to, 
deficit  or  no  deficit.  However,  if  Mr.  Hitchcock  thinks  a  "deficit" 
necessary  armament  in  his  fight  to  increase  second-class  mail  rates — 
to  increase  such  rates,  as  it  would  appear,  on  a  certain  few  periodicals 
which  print  and  publish  what  the  people  want  to  hear  and  read  and  not 
what  a  few  federal  officeholders  tell  them  to  print  and  publish,  then  a  cut 
of  50  per  cent  in  the  present  first-class  postage  rates  will  most  certainly 
create  that  deficit  for  him. 

In  a  few  years,  of  course,  after  business  has  adjusted  itself  to  the 
lower  rate  and  the  fathers,  mothers  and  sweethearts  of  the  country 
have  learned  that  they  can  write  a  letter  to  John,  Mary,  Thomas  or 
Lucy  and  have  it  delivered  for  one  cent,  whereas  it  now  costs  two 
cents,  then  Mr.  Hitchcock's  created  deficit  will  fade  away — will  again 
fade  into  a  surplus. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  associate  coterie 
who  apparently  are  gunning  for  periodicals  which  dare  tell  the  truth, 
will  have  a  "deficit"  to  use  as  wadding  in  their  verbal,  oratorical  and 
franked  ordnance. 

The  1910  report  of  the  Postoffice  Department  sets  up  something 
over  $202,000,000  as  receipts  from  cancellation  of  stamps,  or  stamp 
sales.  Of  course,  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  those  stamps  were 
bought  for  and  canceled  in  third  and  fourth  class  service,  catalogues, 
books,  etc. — in  third-class  carriage  and  handling,  and  merchandise 
parcels  in  fourth  class.  One  has  no  data — nor  can  he  obtain  such  data 
from  the  Postoffice  Department  records — to  show  what  sum  or  portion 
of  that  $202,000,000  worth  of  stamps  was  canceled  in  the  transmission 
of  letters  and  other  sealed  matter  of  the  first-class.  But  it  may  be 
conservatively  stated  that  if  Mr.  Hitchcock  succeeds  in  cutting  down 
or  curtailing  the  circulation  of  weekly  and  monthly  periodicals — 
especially  their  advertising  pages — he  will  have  no  trouble  in  finding, 


194  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

for  two  or  three  years  at  least,  a  shrinkage  of  from  $50,000,000  to 
$75,000,000  in  that  stamp  account. 

That,  with  the  falling  away  in  paid  second-class  matter,  will 
provide  him  a  "deficit"  which  should  make  him  jubilant — should 
furnish  wadding  for  his  embrasured  guns  for  two  or  three  years  in  his 
attack  on  those  recalcitrant  periodicals  which  attend  to  their  own 
business  in  a  clean,  truthful  way  and  expect  nothing  of  a  Postmaster 
General  other  than  that  he  attend  strictly  and  efficiently  to  his  busi- 
ness, to  the  business  of  the  Postoffice  Department — to  the  business  of 
collecting,  transporting  and  distributing  the  federal  mails. 

I  have  probably  discussed  Mr.  Hitchcock,  his  faults  and  his 
excellencies  sufficiently.  I  will  therefore,  pass  to  another  phase  of 
our  general  subject. 

THE   HUGHES    COMMISSION. 

First,  however,  I  must  introduce  a  few  paragraphs  here  in  sum- 
mary of  the  work  done  by  the  Hughes  Commission  at  its  August 
session  in  New  York  City.  The  commission  comprised  Associate 
Justice  Hughes,  President  Lowell  of  Harvard  University,  and  H.  A. 
Wheeler,  President  of  the  Chicago  Association  of  Commerce.  That 
this  triumvirate  of  gentlemen  will  act  disinterestedly  and  fairly,  so 
far  as  their  knowledge  and  the  evidence  relating  to  postal  affairs 
extends,  there  is  here  no  question. 

That  they  have  not  and  will  not  dig  up  and  uncover  facts  and 
data  relating  to  the  haulage  and  handling  of  second-class  mail  matter, 
beyond  that  already  known  to  and  on  file  with  government  officials, 
is  equally  certain.  No  finer  trinity  of  men  could  well  have  been 
selected  by  President  Taft,  but  the  fact  is  none  of  the  three  has  had 
any  opportunity  to  make  a  study  of  the  federal  mail  service,  second- 
class  or  other.  Or  if  they  have  had  such  opportunity,  the  press  of 
official  and  private  business  in  other  lines  and  directions  prevent- 
ing, in  large  extent,  their  study  of  postal  service  costs  and  affairs.  No 
doubt,  these  three  gentlemen  will  do  the  very  best  and  fairest  they 
can — or  know  how  to  do — with  the  evidence  presented  to  them.  Still, 
I  am  of  the  opinion  that  they  will  discover  little  which  has  not  already 
been  discovered — which,  as  Congressman  Moon  said  on  the  floor  of  the 
House  last  March  (1911),  "has  already  been  discovered  and  filed  for 
departmental  and  official  reference."  Each  of  them  is  a  man  of  high 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  195 

academic  training  but  neither  of  them,  so  far  as  The  Man  on  the 
Ladder  has  been  able  to  learn,  had  made,  as  previously  stated,  any 
qualifying  study  of  federal  postal  affairs.  So  the  best  we  have  a  right 
to  expect  from  them  is  that  they  will  tell  the  story,  draped  in  new  or 
different  verbiage,  told  by  predecessor  commissions  on  second-class 
postal  rates,  costs  of  haulage  and  handling  the  same,  etc. 

Incidentally  it  may  be  said  with  all  due  courtesy  and  respect  that 
the  Hughes  Commission  will  probably  succeed  in  spending  the  $50,000 
appropriated  for  its  expenses,  subsistence,  incidentals,  etc.  The 
present  commission  would  not  be  loyal  to  precedent  if  it  permitted 
any  of  that  $50,000  to  return  to  the  general  fund  as  an  "unexpended 
balance." 

Just  here  I  desire  to  introduce  a  few  items  from  the  testimony  of 
Mr.  Wilmer  Atkinson  before  the  Hughes  Commission,  which,  in 
August  last  began  strenuous  efforts  to  spend  $50,000  and  to  discover 
and  report  upon  facts  anent  the  cost  of  hauling  and  handling  second- 
class  mail  matter — which  facts  have  already  been  collected,  collated 
and  filed  with  labored,  likewise  expensive,  care  somewheres  in  the 
government's  archives.  I  have  quoted  from  Mr.  Atkinson  several 
times  in  forward  pages.  I  desire  to  quote  here  from  his  testimony 
before  this  Hughes  Commission,  because  the  Hughes  Commission 
is  the  latest  and  "best  seller"  on  the  second  class  mail  shelf  and 
because  I  recognize  in  Mr.  Atkinson  one  of  the  first  and  most 
dependable  authorities  in  the  country  on  the  cost  of  carriage, 
handling  and  distribution  of  mail — whether  of  the  second  or  any 
other  class.  Especially  do  I  desire  to  quote  part  of  his  testimony 
before  the  Hughes  Commission  because  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
the  reader,  as  well  as  the  Commission,  must  necessarily  gather 
forcefully  pertinent  facts  from  it: 

To  ascertain  what  second-class  matter  costs  has  been  found  to  be  a  puzzling 
proposition.  Many  have  tried  to  solve  the  puzzle  and  all  have  failed. 

The  Joint  Congressional  Commission  consisting  of  Penrose,  Carter  and  Clay 
for  the  Senate,  and  Overstreet,  Moon  and  Gardner  for  the  House,  with  the  aid 
of  numerous  expert  accountants,  at  a  cost  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  (ac- 
cording to  the  President's  statement),  attempted  it  and  gave  it  up.  All  these 
gentlemen  are  on  record  as  declaring  that  it  is  a  task  impossible  of  accomplish- 
ment. 

Senator  Bristow,  a  former  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  who  has  given 
postal  questions  much  careful  study,  said  in  a  recent  speech  that  "It  does  not  cost 
nine  cents  a  pound,  nor  can  the  Department  ascertain  with  even  approximate  ac- 
curacy what  is  the  cost  of  handling  any  special  class  of  mail.  It  would  be  just  as 


196  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

easy  for  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  to  state  in  dollars  and  cents  what  it  costs  to 
haul  a  ton  of  coal  from  Harrisburg  to  Pittsburgh,  or  100  pounds  of  silk  from  Pitts- 
burgh to  Indianapolis,  as  for  the  Postoffice  Department  to  state  what  it  costs  the 
Department  to  handle  newspapers  or  magazines.  Anyone  familiar  with  trans- 
portation knows  that  such  calculations  cannot  be  made  with  accuracy,  because 
there  are  so  many  unassignable  expenses  that  must  be  considered — expenditures 
that  cannot  be  subdivided  and  assigned  to  the  different  classes  of  freight.  The 
same  is  true  as  to  the  different  classes  of  mail." 

Postal  officials  have  exhausted  conjecture  as  a  basis  for  a  correct  solution  of 
this  problem.  Nearly  every  year  there  has  been  a  new  guess.  Mr.  Madden, 
Third  Assistant  Postmaster-General  for  seven  years  up  to  1907,  guessed  that  it 
cost  4  cents  a  pound.  His  successor,  Mr.  Lawshe,  guessed  2|  cents  and  then  the 
next  year  4  cents.  For  the  last  two  years  the  Department's  guess  has  been  9 
cents. 

The  Penrose-Overstreet  Commission  declared,  while  it  is  impossible  to 
ascertain  with  certainty  what  the  cost  is,  the  members  of  the  Commission  gave 
it  as  their  opinion  that  "One  cent  a  pound  is  approximately  adequate  compensation 
for  handling  and  transporting  second-class  matter." 

I  am  confident  that  there  is  a  better  way  of  solving  the  problem  than  has 
heretofore  been  tried.  This  consists  in  the  direct  application  of  plain,  old- 
fashioned  common  sense  to  it.  A  little  gumption  in  such  a  matter  as  this  is  far 
better  than  fanciful  guessing  or  astute  figuring  by  experts,  who  are  bent  on 
finding  something  that  is  not  there. 

In  working  out  this  problem  I  have  adopted  a  method^quite  different  and 
have  obtained  results  quite  unlike  the  foregoing.  I  show  the  relation  of  second- 
class  mail  to  stamp  mail  extending  over  a  period  of  25  years,  from  1885  to  1910. 
This  covers  the  entire  period  since  the  institution  of  the  cent  a  pound  rate. 

I  go  back  still  further  to  1876  when  the  postage  rate  on  newspapers  was  4 
times  greater  than  now,  when  the  sale  of  stamps  was  less  than  one-eleventh  what 
it  is  now,  and  while  deficits  were  larger. 

The  highest  point  reached  in  the  weight  of  second-class  matter  previous  to 
the  institution  of  the  present  rate,  was  101,057,963  pounds. 

It  has  been  repeatedly  declared  officially  that  second-class  matter  originates 
large  quantities  of  other  classes  of  mail,  and  in  the  official  figures  we  have 
the  proof. 

While  population  increased  from  1885  to  1910  only  a  little  more  than  double, 
the  revenue  from  the  sale  of  stamps,  etc.,  and  the  weight  of  second-class  matter, 
each  increased  over  5  times.  No  other  possible  reason  can  be  assigned  for  the 
increase  in  stamp  mail,  and  the  tremendous  development  of  every  branch  of  the 
Postal  business  5  times  faster  than  the  growth  of  population,  than  the  increased 
circulation  and  influence  of  the  newspaper  and  periodical  press,  brought  about  by 
the  reduced  postage  rate. 

SECOND-CLASS  MATTER  WOULD  HAVE  LONG  AGO  WIPED  OUT  ALL  DEFICITS 

AND  CREATED  AN  ENORMOUS  ANNUAL  SURPLUS  HAD  IT  NOT  BEEN  FOR  THE  GREAT 
BURDENS  WHICH  WEIGHED  THE  SERVICE  DOWN. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  197 

There  would  have  been  a  surplus,  instead  of  a  deficit,  every  year  since  1901, 
had  allowance  been  made  for  the  extraordinary  cost  of  free  rural  delivery,  and  in 
1910,  the  surplus  would  have  been  $31,075,170.12. 

If  also  allowance  had  been  made  for  free  government  matter,  other  than  the 
Postoffice  Department's  own  free  matter,  being  sent  stamped  as  first-class  matter 
is,  the  surplus  for  1910  would  have  been  $51,075,470.12  and  these  figures  like  all 
others  here  given,  are  from  official  reports. 

A  VAST  INCREASE   OF   EXPENDITURES. 

Not  only  did  stamp  mail,  under  the  stimulus  of  the  steady  and  enormous  increase 
of  second-class  -matter,  enable  the  Department  to  meet  the  cost  of  rural  delivery  while 
reducing  the  deficit,  but  it  also  met  and  overcame  the  immense  increase  of  the  annual 
expenditures  for  railroad  transportation  which  grew  from  $33,523,902.18  in  1901  to 
$44,654,515.97  in  1910:  of  salaries  to  postmasters,  assistants  and  clerks  which  grew 
from  $32,790,253.39  in  1901  to  $65,582,533.57  in  1910,  of  the  railway  mail  service 
which  grew  from  $9,675,436.52  to  $19,385,096.97  in  1910,  and  of  the  city  delivery 
service  which  grew  from  $15,752,600  in  1901  to  $36,841,407.40  in  1910.  In  these 
four  items  alone  there  was  an  increase  in  annual  expenditures  in  the  last  ten  years 
of  $74,721,361.82,  for  which  second-class  matter  was  only  in  a  very  limited  way 
responsible. 

Entirely  too  much  stress  has  been  placed  upon  the  cost  of  second-class 
matter,  for  it  makes  little  difference  whether  it  costs  2£  cents  or  4  cents  or  9 
cents,  or  even  more,  if  it  produce  results  commensurate  with  its  cost,  and  this  it 
would  do  if  the  cost  were  double  the  highest  guess  yet  made.  The  Government  could 
afford  to  carry  it  free  rather  than  not  carry  it  at  all,  for  without  it  the  bottom 
would  drop  out  of  the  Postal  Establishment.  As  long  as  the  people  get  the 
benefit  of  the  low  rate,  as  they  are  doing  now,  for  which  we  have  official  testi- 
mony, it  matters  not  what  the  rate  is  except  that  it  should  be  kept  at  the  very 
bottom  notch. 

WHY  THE  POSTAGE  RATE  WAS  MADE  LOW. 

Even  if  the  cost  of  second-class  matter  should  be  declared  to  be  more  than 
cent  per  pound,  it  would  not  be  good  public  policy  for  Congress  to  increase  it, 
because  much  reading  matter  would  be  placed  out  of  the  reach  of  many  who  now 
are  receiving  the  benefit  of  it. 

Postmaster-General  Meyer  said  in  his  report  for  1908:  "The  charge  for 
carrying  second-class  mail  matter  was  intentionally  fixed  below  cost  for  the 
purpose  of  encouraging  the  dissemination  of  information  of  educational  value  to 
the  people,  and  the  benefit  of  the  cheap  rate  of  postage  is  passed  on  to  the  subscriber 
in  a  lower  subscription  price  than  would  otherwise  be  possible." 

The  Hon.  Charles  Emory  Smith  truly  declared:  "Our  free  institutions  rest 
on  popular  intelligence,  and  it  has  from  the  beginning  been  our  fixed  and  en- 
lightened policy  to  foster  and  promote  the  general  diffusion  of  public  information. 
Congress  has  wisely  framed  the  postal  laws  with  this  just  and  liberal  conception. 

"It  has  uniformly  sought  to  encourage  intercommunication  and  the  ex- 
mge  of  intelligence.  As  facilities  have  cheapened,  it  has  gradually  lowered  all 


198  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

postage  rates.  It  has  never  aimed  to  make  the  postal  service  a  source  of  profit, 
but  simply  to  make  it  pay  its  own  way  and  to  give  the  people  the  benefit  of  all 
possible  advancement. 

"In  harmony  with  this  sound  and  judicious  policy,  it  has  deliberately 
established  a  low  rate  of  postage  for  genuine  newspapers  and  periodicals,  with  the 
express  design  of  encouraging  and  aiding  the  distribution  of  the  recognized  means 
and  agencies  of  public  information. 

"It  is  not  a  matter  of  favor,  but  of  approved  judgment.  //  is  not  for  the 
publishers,  but  for  the  people." 

The  testimony  of  Senator  Bristow  is  that,  "I  am  glad  we  have  got  a  one-cent 
rate  of  postage  for  the  legitimate  newspapers  and  magazines  of  the  country,  and 
I  would  rather  decrease  it  than  raise  it.  The  beneficiaries  are  the  poor  people 
themselves,  who  now  get  daily  papers  at  from  $2  to  $4  a  year,  when  they  used  to 
pay  from  $10  to  $12.  They  now  get  magazines  from  $1  to  $1.50,  when  they  used 
to  pay  $4  to  $6  per  year  for  magazines  of  no  higher  grade."  *  *  *  * 

And  I  would  remind  the  Commission  that  there  are  millions  of  laboring  men 
and  women  who  cannot  afford  to  add  to  their  living  expenses  the  cost  of  any  but 
the  very  cheapest  reading  matter,  and  many  not  even  that.  After  buying  food 
and  clothing  and  providing  shelter  there  is  scarcely  anything  left  in  the  home  for 
cultivating  the  intellect  and  informing  the  mind. 

When  sickness  intervenes,  then  comes  the  stress  of  debt,  and  if  death  follow, 
the  future  has  to  be  drawn  upon  to  give  the  dead  a  burial  such  as  love  would 
provide.  Are  these  people,  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  land,  those  in  the  humble 
walks  of  life,  not  to  be  considered  when  it  is  proposed  to  add  to  the  cost  of  the 
family  reading? 

It  surely  should  not  be  made  more  difficult  for  the  poor  to  obtain  that  which 
is  so  essential  to  their  welfare  and  that  of  the  Republic  of  which  they  form  an 
important  part.  *********** 

"But  here  I  cannot  forbear  to  recommend,"  said  George  Washington,  in  his 
message  to  Congress,  on  November  6, 1792,  "a  repeal  of  the  tax  on  the  transporta- 
tion of  public  prints.  There  is  no  resource  so  firm  for  the  government  of  the 
United  States  as  the  affections  of  the  people,  guided  by  an  enlightened  policy; 
and  to  this  primary  good,  nothing  can  conduce  more  than  a  faithful  representation 
of  public  proceedings  diffused  without  restraint  throughout  the  United  States." 

NEWSPAPERS  AND  PERIODICALS. — THE   DIFFERENCE. 

An  effort  was  made  in  the  closing  hours  of  the  61st  Congress  to  increase  the 
postage  rate  on  magazines.  It  is  my  opinion  that  the  postage  rate  should  remain 
uniform  as  it  is  now  upon  all  classes  of  publications.  There  should  be  no  partiality 
shown,  there  should  be  no  discrimination.  A  proposal  to  increase  the  rate  on 
magazines  alone,  is  not  one  that  should  have  the  endorsement  of  this  Commission 
nor  the  approval  of  Congress,  as  I  shall  endeavor  to  show. 

Under  Section  432  of  the  Postal  Laws  and  Regulations,  "A  newspaper  is  held 
to  be  a  publication  regularly  issued  at  stated  intervals  of  not  longer  than  one  week ; 
a  periodical  is  held  to  be  a  publication  regularly  issued  at  stated  intervals  less 
frequently  than  weekly." 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  199 

A  magazine  is  nowhere  defined  in  the  Postal  Laws  and  Regulations.  A 
law  that  would  increase  the  postage  rate  on  "magazines,"  without  an  explicit 
definition  of  the  word,  would  apply  to  just  such  publications  as  the  Postmaster- 
General  might  select  in  the  administration  of  the  law,  and  none  others.  No  such 
power  of  discrimination  should  be  vested  in  any  official.  The  Postmaster-General 
is  an  executive,  not  a  judicial  officer,  nor  a  lawmaker. 

It  has  been  wisely  and  aptly  said  that  this  is  a  government  of  laws  and  not  of 
men ;  that  there  is  no  arbitrary  power  located  in  any  individual  or  body  of  indi- 
viduals; but  that  all  in  authority  are  guided  and  limited  by  those  provisions 
which  the  people  have,  through  the  organic  law,  declared  shall  be  the  measure 
and  scope  of  all  control  exercised  over  them. 

There  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  a  newspaper,  which  is  carried  in  the 
mails  once  a  day  or  once  a  week,  should  pay  a  less  rate  than  a  monthly  or  quarter- 
ly. If  the  Government  really  loses  money  in  handling  and  transporting  second- 
class  matter,  the  loss  would  be  greater  on  the  former  than  on  the  latter,  because 
a  daily  goes  through  the  mails  365  times  a  year,  a  weekly  52  times,  while  a  monthly 
only  goes  12  times,  and  a  quarterly  4  times. 

We  learn  from  official  records  that  daily  newspapers  comprise  40.50  per  cent, 
of  all  second-class  matter,  weeklies  15.23  per  cent.,  papers  devoted  to  science  1.30, 
to  education  .64,  religious  5.91,  trade  4.94,  agriculture  5,  magazines  20.23,  and 
miscellaneous  6.25.  Note  that  it  is  stated  that  20.23  of  the  whole  consists  of 
magazines;  but  what  is  a  magazine?  We  are  nowhere  told,  and  the  percentage 
quoted  has  the  appearance  of  being  founded  upon  conjecture.  *  *  * 
.  This  Commission  may  not  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road will  take,  and  does  take,  packages  of  papers  for  all  of  the  great  newspapeis 
that  are  published  along  its  lines,  and  transports  them  in  the  bagagge  cars  for 
one-quarter  of  a  cent  per  pound,  to  any  station  on  the  line,  whether  it  is  ten  miles 
from  the  place  of  origin,  or  1,000  miles  from  the  place  of  origin.  And  yet  the 
Department  is  paying  the  railroads  approximately  two  cents  a  pound  for  hauling 
the  newspapers  of  the  country. 

The  papers  are  delivered  by  the  publishers  to  the  train  just  the  same  as  the 
publisher  delivers  his  newspapers  to  the  train  when  they  are  sent  by  mail.  These 
packages  are  delivered  to  the  depots  of  the  railroads,  and  the  parties  to  whom  they 
are  sent  call  at  the  depots  for  the  packages.  If  they  are  sent  by  mail  the  publisher 
delivers  them  at  the  train,  and  the  parties  to  whom  they  are  addressed  call  at  the 
postoffice  for  the  packages.  The  postoffice  Department  does  not  go  to  the  news- 
paper office  and  get  the  mail.  The  publisher  delivers  the  newspapers  to  the 
mail  trains,  the  same  as  he  delivers  them  to  baggage  cars  for  the  railroad  company. 

And  possibly  the  Commission  has  not  been  informed  that  the  express  com- 
panies have  a  contract  with  the  American  Publishers'  Association  whereby  they 
agree  to  receive  newspaper  packages  of  any  size,  and  deliver  them  to  their  desti- 
nation within  a  limit  of  500  miles,  for  one-half  cent  per  pound.  The  express 
company  does  not  call  at  the  newspaper  office  for  the  papers.  The  publisher 
delivers  them  to  the  express  car,  the  same  as  he  delivers  his  papers  to  the  mail 
car.  The  express  company  then  takes  these  newspapers,  consisting  of  packages 


200  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

of  any  size,  from  a  single  wrapper  to  a  100-pound  bundle,  and  delivers  them  at  the 
other  end  of  the  line  to  the  addresses,  if  the  distance  is  not  greater  than  500  miles, 
for  half  a  cent  a  pound,  and  by  its  contract  with  the  railroad  the  express  company 
pays  the  railroad  only  a  quarter  of  a  cent  a  pound. 

The  Department  figures  show  that  the  average  distance  which  newspapers 
are  hauled  is  less  than  300  miles.  Yet  the  Department  is  paying  about  two  cents 
a  pound  to  the  railroad  for  that  which  the  express  companies  pay  but  a  quarter  of 
a  cent  a  pound.  The  express  companies  only  charge  the  publisher  one-half  cent  a 
pound,  while  the  Government  charges  him  one  cent  a  pound.  The  express  com- 
panies pay  the  railways  one-fourth  a  cent  a  pound,  while  the  Government  pays 
about  two  cents — eight  times  as  much — for  exactly  the  same  service.  The 
express  companies  are  glad  to  get  the  business,  and  render  more  service  than  the 
Postoffice  Department,  because  they  deliver  the  packages  of  any  size  at  the  other 
end,  which  the  Department  does  not  do. 

Senator  Bristow  is  authority  for  the  above  statements  concerning  the  rail- 
road and  express  contracts. 

He********  *  *  *  * 

Now  I  would  not  have  this  (class)  newspaper  and  its  annexes  deprived  of  the 
low  postage  rate,  but  as  the  Postoffice  Department  has  within  the  past  ten  years 
denied  admission  to  the  mails  of  11,563  of  other  publications,  and  32,000  others 
have  been  ruled  out  or  died  from  the  hard  conditions  imposed,  I  would  respect- 
fully request  this  Commission  to  ascertain  and  report  to  the  President  for  trans- 
mission to  Congress  why  there  has  never  been  a  single  publication  of  this  class  shut 
out  or  even  molested  in  the  slightest  degree? 

I  do  not  say  it  is,  but  is  it,  because  such  papers  are  politically  powerful,  that 
they  have  the  ear  of  the  public,  that  they  hold  a  monopoly  of  the  news,  and  that 
they  can  make  or  unmake  the  reputation  of  public  officials  at  will,  and  that  there- 
fore they  are  immune  from  interference?  * 

I  have  here  a  copy  of  the  Police  Gazette,  which  I  take  to  be  a  superior  paper 
of  its  class.  It  is  held  to  be  a  newspaper,  entitled  to  transmission  through  the 
mails  at  a  cent  a  pound.  It  has  never  been  proposed  to  raise  the  postage  rate  on 
this  paper.  *********** 

This  Commission  should  endeavor  to  find  out  and  report  to  the  President  for 
transmission  to  Congress,  why  the  postage  rate  on  one-half  of  the  periodicals  devoted 
to  agriculture  should  be  increased  from  one  cent  to  three  cents,  and  the  postage  rate 
on  the  Police  Gazette  should  remain  at  one  cent. 

HEARINGS    BEFORE    THE    HUGHES    POSTAL    COMMISSION. 

I  intended  to  follow  the  hearings  before  this  commission  person- 
ally. Ill  health  prevented  my  doing  so.  Under  this  stress,  I  asked 
my  friend,  Mr.  M.  H.  Madden,  quoted  on  a  previous  page  in  con- 
nection with  other  phases  of  our  general  subject,  to  summarize  for 
me  the  hearings  of  the  commission  in  August.  Mr.  Madden  kindly 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  201 

consented  to  do  so.     Following  is  what  he  writes  me  relating  to  the 
commission's  proceedings  and  hearings: 

The  first  meeting  of  the  commission  took  place  on  August  1,  and  it  con- 
tinued its  hearings  in  New  York  City,  with  occasional  adjournments  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  month. 

Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  represented  his  department  before  the 
commission,  Second  Assistant  Stewart  and  Third  Assistant  Britt  were  also  present, 
each  in  turn  occupying  the  stand.  Hitchcock  outlined  his  position  concerning  a 
demand  for  an  increase  for  the  first  time,  although  the  same  idea  was  expressed 
by  Third  Assistant  Britt  some  months  ago,  when  Britt  made  an  address  before  a 
convention  of  newspaper  circulation  managers  in  Chicago.  Hitchcock  and  his  two 
assistants  held  to  the  view  that  each  schedule  in  the  postal  service  should  be  made 
self-sustaining,  the  credit  for  this  idea  being  given  to  Hitchcock,  and  in  order  to 
justify  his  position  concerning  a  raise  in  second-class  rates  an  arbitrary  figure  has 
been  placed  on  the  cost  of  handling  the  same,  the  total  "deficit"  from  this  schedule 
being  placed  at  about  $70,000,000  annually.  This  amount  was  arrived  at  by 
what  Second  Assistant  Postmaster  General  Stewart  states  was  a  complete  record 
of  the  weighing  of  all  mail  handled  by  the  Postoffice  Department  of  matter 
originating  in  every  postoffice  and  railway  postoffice  in  the  country  for  a  period  of 
six  months  from  July  1  to  December  1,  1907,  together  with  the  amount  of  mail 
carried  in  every  railway  car.  The  department  in  many  instances  has  admitted 
the  unreliability  of  the  figures  used,  there  having  been  many  estimates  employed. 

Publishers  of  the  country  were  represented  by  several  attorneys  who  ex- 
amined into  the  testimony  given  by  Hitchcock,  Stewart  and  Britt,  and  by  a  series 
of  questions  they  showed  that  the  conclusions  of  the  three  as  to  cost  of  handling 
second-class  mail  were  made  on  a  guess-work  plan  and  not  on  a  scientific  or 
reasonably  accurate  basis  of  fact.  Third  Assistant  Postmaster  General  Britt 
made  the  startling  statement  that  "if  all  the  magazines  and  newspapers  were 
excluded  from  the  second-class  rates  because  of  a  circulation  gained,  not  on  the 
merits  of  the  publication,  but  because  of  some  voting  contest  or  offer  of  premiums 
as  a  bait,  not  10  per  cent,  of  the  total  'would  remain  undisturbed." 

This  declaration  was  looked  upon  as  an  argument  by  the  magazine  publish- 
ers as  favoring  their  contention  that  the  advertising  portions  of  their  periodicals 
are  justified  by  legitimate  business  reasons,  as  an  increased  volume  of  adver- 
tising enables  publishers  to  issue  periodicals  of  much  higher  literary  excellence. 
The  postal  authorities  held  with  firmness  to  the  conviction  that  advertising 
matter  in  publications  is  primarily  for  the  advantage  of  the  publisher,  and  there- 
fore should  be  charged  a  higher  rate  than  reading  matter.  Postmaster  General 
Hitchcock  went  on  record  before  the  commission  as  declaring  that  he  would 
recommend  to  Congress  an  increase  on  the  advertising  portion  of  magazines  and 
newspapers  of  a  cent  a  pound  additional.  Assuming  that  the  postoffice  officials 
are  prompted  by  a  legitimate  purpose  in  their  desire  to  increase  rates  on  second- 
class  matter,  their  arguments  before  the  commission  have  been  transparently 
weak,  and  an  unbiased  mind  they  would  fail  in  convincing,  but  the  feeling  is 
that  the  commission  will  accept  the  conclusions  of  the  postal  authorities  that 


202  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

the  government  rate  of  one  cent  a  pound  is  inadequate  for  transporting  second- 
class  matter.  To  justify  the  position  taken  by  the  government  that  each  schedule 
should  maintain  itself,  the  Postmaster  General  intends  to  press  with  vigor  a  re- 
duction of  first-class  postage  from  two-cents  to  one  cent  a  letter,  he  citing  the 
profit  on  first-class  mail  and  the  alleged  loss  on  second-class  matter  as  his  reason 
for  the  change  of  rate. 

Religious  and  denominational  publications  were  represented  before  the 
commission,  the  contention  being  made  by  these  that  the  doubling  of  the  rate  on 
second-class  matter  would  work  very  serious  injury  to  the  religious  press,  forcing 
many  publications  out  of  business.  This  statement  was  made  by  E.  R.  Graham, 
representing  the  Methodist  Book  Concern  publications  in  Cincinnati  and  New 
York,  and  seemingly  it  made  an  impression  on  the  members  of  the  commission. 
The  attorneys  representing  the  publishers  were  much  interested  in  Mr.  Graham's 
statement,  he  being  considered  a  competent  authority  on  the  matter. 

One  of  the  strongest  arguments  of  the  hearings,  because  of  the  experience 
which  he  has  had  as  a  postal  official,  was  made  by  Mr.  W.  S.  Shallenberger,  who 
had  served  several  years  in  Congress  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Postoffice 
and  Postroads.  Mr.  Shallenberger  was  for  a  number  of  years  Second  Assistant 
Postmaster  General,  and  now  represents  the  Interdenominational  Publishers 
who  issue  Sunday  school  literature  throughout  the  United  States.  This  witness 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  an  increase  in  the  rate  on  second-class  matter  would 
cause  magazines  and  newspapers  to  avail  themselves  of  the  facilities  now  offered 
by  the  express  companies  which  are  becoming  active  competitors  of  the  govern- 
ment in  transporting  second-class  matter,  these  corporations  obtaining  better 
rates  from  the  railroads  than  is  given  to  the  government.  Mr.  Shallenberger 
expressed  the  view  that  since  every  civilized  nation  was  cheapening  the  cost  of 
postal  service  the  fact  that  our  country  was  seeking  to  increase  the  rate  seemed 
to  be  reactionary. 

Mr.  Shallenberger  served  under  six  Postmaster  Generals  and  all  of  these  held 
that  the  government  was  carrying  second-class  matter  at  a  loss.  But  his  opinion 
was  that  there  was  a  substantial  profit  in  the  present  rate,  at  the  same  time 
condemning  the  idea  that  each  particular  schedule  should  be  made  to  pay  its  own 
way,  the  stimulus  toward  encouraging  other  schedule  receipts  not  being  given  its 
proper  consideration.  Mr.  Shallenberger  gave  a  hint  concerning  hidden  influences 
seeking  to  have  the  second-class  rate  increased  but  did  not  enter  deeply  into  this 
phase  of  the  subject.  The  controversy  between  Mr.  Shallenberger  and  Second 
Assistant  Stewart  was  animated  and  prolonged,  and  touched  on  features  connected 
with  the  compensation  paid  railroads  for  hauling  the  mail,  the  express  companies 
getting  better  terms  than  the  government,  this  statement  being  made  by  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Postal  Progress  League. 

The  strongest  point  the  publishing  interests  made  was  when  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  railway  mail  service,  Chas.  H.  McBride,  testified  that  a  considerable 
part  of  the  estimate  upon  which  the  department's  figures  are  based  is 
guesswork  and  assumption,  he  admitting  that  if  this  were  so  the  result  would  not 
be  greatly  different  from  what  the  officials  first  claimed.  On  the  whole  Superin- 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  203 

tendent  McBride's  testimony  was  calculated  to  show  that  the  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment was  desirous  of  making  out  a  case  against  the  second-class  schedule,  how- 
ever necessary  it  was  to  twist  figures  and  conceal  facts  in  order  to  do  so. 

Mr.  Wilmer  Atkinson,  publisher  of  Farm  Journal,  Philadelphia,  combated 
the  contention  of  the  postoffice  officials,  as  shown  in  their  statements  and  tables, 
and  declared  with  much  emphasis  that  second-class  matter  stimulated  first-class 
postage  receipts.  The  statement  of  the  cost  of  carrying  second-class  matter, 
placing  it  at  nine  cents  a  pound,  is,  according  to  him,  "only  a  stereotyped  guess 
that  goes  into  the  postoffice  department  report,  each  year,"  experts  having  repeat- 
edly stated  that  there  is  no  possible  way  of  fixing  the  cost  of  carrying  second- 
class  mail.  In  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Atkinson  the  government  could  better  afford 
to  carry  it  free  than  not  to  carry  it  at  all.  "Gumption  and  common  sense," 
declared  Mr.  Atkinson,  "should  rather  be  applied  than  indulging  in  worthless 
guessing." 

Representatives  of  scientific  publications,  college  journals,  fashion  papers, 
fraternal  societies  and  trade  periodicals  appeared  before  the  members  of  the 
commission  during  the  sessions,  and  all  entered  emphatic  protests  against  the 
increase.  In  numerous  instances  these  interests  made  the  statement  that  serious 
reverses  would  be  encountered  if  the  postage  rate  should  be  doubled,  and  that 
many  publications  would  be  forced  to  suspend. 

The  labor  union  press,  an  interest  representing  about  250  weekly  and 
monthly  publications,  with  a  circulation  approximating  1,250,000  copies  was 
officially  represented  by  President  Samuel  Gompers  of  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor,  and  President  Matthew  Woll,  of  the  Photo-Engravers'  Union.  Mr. 
Gompers  entered  vigorous  protests  against  discriminations  against  labor  publi- 
cations and  registered  a  severe  censure  of  the  method  by  which  the  Postoffice 
Department  had  hampered  the  official  journals  of  the  labor  people.  Mr.  Gompers 
stated  that  the  publications  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  and  its  auxil- 
iaries were  all  highly  educational  in  their  character  and,  in  the  event  of  an  in- 
crease in  the  item  of  postage  to  the  extent  of  100  per  cent  additional,  many  of  the 
best  would  be  driven  out  of  business  with  corresponding  loss  to  the  men  indi- 
vidually and  to  the  nation  as  a  whole.  Mr.  Gompers'  declaration  was  listened  to 
with  much  interest. 

President  Woll  dwelt  on  the  far-reaching  effect  which  the  hampering  of  the 
labor  press  would  have  on  the  manifold  business  relationships  involved  in  the 
printing  industry,  primarily  directing  attention  to  the  more  than  a  third  of  a 
million  of  workers  in  the  printing  trades  alone .  He  then  advanced  to  the  founda- 
tion of  the  paper  and  machinery  features  of  the  proposition,  viz.,  from  the  ore  in 
the  mine,  from  which  the  machinery  was  made,  to  the  forest  tree  from  which  the 
pulp  is  ground.  The  tonnage  of  the  transportation  service  of  the  country  would 
at  once  be  doubly  interfered  with,  first  in  a  reduced  demand  for  material  with 
which  to  make  the  paper  and,  secondly,  the  corresponding  decrease  in  the  weight 
of  the  finished  product  of  the  publications.  In  many  features  Mr.  Woll  made 
prominent  the  ideas  which  the  "Postal  Riders  and  Raiders"  is  promoting,  in- 


204  POSTAL  RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

eluding  the  educational  features  of  the  immense  volume  of   printing  which  comes 
from  the  printing  press  in  all  sections  of  the  country. 

The  commission  adjourned,  subject  to  the  call  of  Justice  Hughes.  However, 
it  is  understood  that  it  will  be  called  together  in  time  to  prepare  its  report  to 
President  Taft  and  to  Congress  when  the  session  opens  in  December,  1911. 


CHAPTER  X. 

POSTAL    DEFICITS. 

Now,  let  us  look  into  and  over  that  postoffice  "deficit,"  to  the 
origin  of  which  the  memory  of  man  scarcely  runneth  back,  and  which 
Mr.  Hitchcock,  by  some  strenuous  effort  on  right  lines  readily  con- 
verted into  a  surplus — a  $6,000,000  deficit  into  some  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  surplus.  The  returns  are  not  all  in  yet.  At 
any  rate  the  Postmaster  General  has  not  announced  them  loud 
enough  for  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  to  hear,  or  he  was  in  his  physi- 
cian's hands  when  the  announcement  was  made. 

However  that  may  be,  Mr.  Hitchcock  has  proved  quite  con- 
clusively that  there  is  no  deficit — or,  at  least,  no  valid  reason  for  one 
under  present  conditions. 

And  here,  again,  I  desire  to  say  that  our  present  Postmaster 
General  is  deserving  the  praise  or  commendation  of  every  Amer- 
ican citizen  for  having  demonstrated,  by  a  few  economies  here  and  a 
few  betterments  there  in  the  operation  of  his  department,  that  the 
service  can  be  rendered,  and  rendered  efficiently,  with  an  expenditure 
safely  within  the  bounds  of  the  department's  receipts  or  revenues. 

Especially  is  Mr.  Hitchcock  deserving  of  commendation  for  this 
demonstration,  because  in  making  it  he  has  done  what  so  many  of 
his  predecessors  talked  of  as  desirable,  but  failed  to  do. 

But  with  full  acknowledgment  of  the  splendid  effort  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock has  made  in  converting  a  postal  deficit  of  $6,000,000  in  1909-10 
into  a  surplus  for  the  year  1910-11,  I  desire  to  discuss,  briefly,  postal 
department  deficits  of  the  past — or  the  future — and  the  origin  and 
cause  of  them. 

In  the  future  pages  of  this  volume  little  if  any  reference  will  be 
made  to  our  vigorous  Postmaster  General's  attempt  to  put  onto  the 
Senate  course  a  rider  that  would  run  down  certain  periodicals  which 
were  to  him  and  certain  of  his  friends,  as  it  would  appear,  of  ob- 
structive if  not  offensive  character.  It  is  possible,  if,  indeed,  not 
probable,  that  I  may,  in  this  somewhat  hurried  discussion  of  our 
Postoffice  Department  deficits  and  their  sources,  cause  and  origin, 

205 


206  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

repeat  something,  in  whole  or  in  part,  that  I  have  said  elsewhere  in 
this  volume. 

The  discussion  of  the  postal  deficits  leads  us  into  the  Raider 
factor  or  feature  of  our  general  title — into  a  consideration  of  the 
political,  partisan  and  business  influences  and  interests  which  have  for 
thirty-five  or  more  years  been  conspicuously — yes,  brazenly — looting 
the  revenues  of  the  department.  I  shall  not  be  able  to  advert  to  all 
such  influences,  interests  and  persons.  Especially  can  I  not  mention 
some  of  the  persons.  Many  of  them  have  gone  to  "their  reward" — or 
to  their  punishment — as  the  Almighty  has  seen  fit  to  assign  them. 
As  a  matter  of  venerable  custom  and  of  current  conventional  courtesy 
we  must  leave  them  to  His  justice — to  our  silence.  One  by  one  many 
of  the  dishonestly  enriched  from  our  postal  revenues  have  dropped  into 
"the  dead  past,"  which  Christ  instructed  should  be  left  to  "bury  its 
dead."  In  our  treatment  of  this  subject  we  shall  obey  the  Master's 
instruction — we  shall  discuss  methods,  practices,  and  acts,  not  men. 

In  turning  to  our  subject  directly,  I  desire  to  make  a  few  positive 
statements  or  declarations. 

1.  The  Postoffice  Department  is  a  public  service  department— a 
department  intended  to   serve  all  the  people  all  the  time. 

2.  The  people  are  paying,  have  paid,  and  are  willing  to  pay,  for 
their  postal  service. 

3.  The  people  do  not  care — never  have  cared — whether  the 
expenditures  exceed  the  receipts  by  $6,000,000  or  $100,000,000,  ij 
they  get  the  service  for  the  money  expended. 

In  comment  on  the  last,  I  wish  here  to  ask  if  anyone  has  heard 
much  loud  noise  from  the  people  about  the  army  and  the  navy 
expenditures — expenditures  larger  than  that  of  any  other  nation  on 
earth  for  similar  purposes? 

Yet,  for  twenty  or  more  years,  the  people  have  paid  the  appro- 
priations for— also  met  the  "deficit"  bills  of— each  of  those  depart- 
ments without  any  noticeable  "holler." 

But,  again,  it  must  be  pertinently  asked,  what  have  the  people 
received  in  return  for  their  billions  of  expenditures  for  those  two 
departments? 

Yes,  what?  They  have  had  the  doubtful  "glory"  of  having 
their  army  debauch  some  island  possessions,  maneuver  for  local 
entertainments  and  do  some  society  stunts  while  on  "post  leave" — 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  207 

which  "leave",  for  epauletted  military  officers,  appears  to  have  oc- 
cupied most  of  their  time. 

And  the  people  have  put  up,  ungrumblingly,  $100,000,000  to 
$150,000,000  or  more  (I  forget  the  figures),  for  a  navy — a  navy 
carrying  on  its  payrolls  more  "shore  leave"  men  and  clerks  than  it 
has  service  men.  (At  any  rate  that  was  the  showing  in  a  recent  year). 
For  this  vast  expenditure  of  their  money  the  people  got — got  what? 

Well,  for  their  hundreds  of  millions  expenditure  on  that  navy  of 
ours,  the  people,  to  date,  have  received  in  return  newspaper  reports  of 
numerous  magazine  and  gun  explosions  with,  of  course,  a  list  of  the 
killed  and  wounded,  and  reports  of  "blow-hole"  or  otherwise  faulted 
armor  plate,  turrets,  etc.,  of  raising  "The  Maine,"  of  shoaling  this, 
that  or  the  other  battleship,  or  of  "sparring"  or  "lightering"  off,  to  the 
music  that  is  made  by  a  "blow-in"  of  fifty  thousand  to  two  or  three 
hundred  thousand  more  of  their  money. 

Reader,  if  you  read — if  you  have  read — the  "news" — the 
periodical  literature — of  those  past  twenty  years,  you  will  know  that 
the  people  have  received  little  or  no  returns  for  the  vast  expenditure 
of  money — of  their  money — that  their  representatives  ( ?)  have  made 
for  the  Navy  Department. 

Oh,  yes,  I  remember  that  our  army  and  navy  fought  to  a 
"victorious"  conclusion  the  "Spanish  American"  war. 

No  patriotic  American  citizen  alive  at  the  time  that  war  occurred 
will  ever  forget  it.  He  will  ever  remember  Siboney,  Camp  Thomas, 
Camp  Wycoff,  and  the  cattle-ship  transports  for  diseased  and  dying 
soldiers,  He  will  also  remember  the  "embalmed  beef"  and  the 
"decayed  tack"  and  other  contract:  and  contractors. 

If  the  patriotic  citizen  has  been  an  "old  soldier,"  or  is  familiar 
with  the  history  of  wars,  he  will  also  know  that,  if  the  whole  land 
fighting  of  that  Spanish  American  war  was  corralled  into  one  action 
that  action  would  be  infinitely  less  sanguine  than  was  the  action  at  a 
number  of  "skirmishes"  in  our  civil  war — that,  if  the  several  naval 
actions  of  that  war  were  merged  into  one,  it  would  not  equal,  in 
either  gore  or  naval  glory,  Farragut's  capture  of  Mobile,  the  action  in 
Hampton  Roads,  nor  even  Perry's  scrimmage  on  Lake  Erie  in  1813. 

What  has  all  this  to  do  with  the  postal  department  deficit,  some 
one  may  ask  ?  It  has  just  this  to  do  with  it : 

If  a  people  stand  unmurmuringly  for  the  expenditure  of  billions 


208  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

for  a  service  that  yields  them  no  return,  save  a  protection  they  have 
not  needed  and  of  doubtful  security  if  needed,  that  people  is  not 
going  to  raise  any  noisy  hubub  over  a  dinky  deficit  of  a  few  millions 
a  year  for  a  service  which  should  serve  them  every  day  of  every  year. 

I  have  expanded  a  little,  not  disgressed,  in  writing  to  my 
statement  numbered  3.  I  will  now  proceed  with  my  premeditated 
statements.  Some  of  them  may  be  a  little  frigid,  but  none  of  them 
are  cold-storage.  Some  one  may  have  told  it  all  to  you  before,  but 
that  is  his  fault,  not  mine.  He  merely  beat  me  to  the  facts. 

4.  As  stated  in  a  forward  page  of  this  volume,  the  people  of  this 
nation  want  and  demand  service  of  its  Postoffice  Department.    They 
care  not  to  the  extent  of  a  halloween  pea-shooter  whether  the  service 
is  rendered  at  a  deficit  of  six  million  or  at  a  surplus  of  ten  million,  if 
service  is  rendered  for  the  money  expended. 

5.  The  people  of  this  country  will  object  more  strenuously 
against  a  surplus  in  their  postal  revenues — their  service  tax — than 
they  ever  have  or  will  object  to  a  deficit  in  the  revenues  of  that  service, 
if  they  get  the  service. 

6.  The  Postoffice  Department  is  not  understood — is  not  even 
thought  of  by  intelligent  citizens — as  a  revenue-producing  depart- 
ment.    It  is  understood  to  be  a  service  department,  and  the  citizen — 
His  Majesty,  the  American  Citizen — is  always  willing  to  pay  for 
services  rendered. 

7.  The  Postoffice  Department  has  not  in  the  period  named — no, 
not  for  thirty  or  thirty-five  years — rendered  the  citizen  the  service  for 
which  he  paid. 

I  mean  by  that,  of  course,  that  the  citizen  has  been  compelled 
to  pay  far  more  for  a  postal  service  than  he  should  have  paid  for  that 
service. 

8.  Had    that   service  been  honestly,  faithfully  and   efficiently 
rendered,  the  price  the  citizen  has  paid  for  it  would  have  left  no  deficit 
for  any  year  within  the  past  thirty. 

9.  The  only  deficits  in  those  thirty  or  thirty-five  years  have  been 
the  result  of  manipulated  bookkeeping,  of  political  trenching  into  the 
revenues  of  the  department,  of  loose  methods  in  its  management,  of 
disinterest  in  the  enforcement  of  even  loose  methods,  and  of  downright 
lootage  and  stealings. 

"Rather  harsh  that,  is  it  not?"  asks  one. 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  209 

"Mere  assertion,"  says  another 

To  the  first  I  need  only  say  that  this  is  an  age  not  congenial  to 
milk-poultice  talk.  I  have  previously  expressed  my  opinion  on  that 
point.  If  you  have  a  thing  to  say,  say  it  hird.  The  majority  of 
people  will  then  understand  you.  Those  who  do  not  understand  you 
can  continue  their  milk  poultices — or  believe  and  talk  as  they  are  told 
or  are  paid  to  believe  and  talk. 

The  latter — the  reader  who  yodles  that  my  preceding  nine 
statements  appear  to  be  assertions  only — can  make  a  courteous  and, 
possibly,  a  profitable  use  of  an  hour's  leisure  in  reading  a  few  follow- 
ing pages,  before  he  rusts  into  the  belief  that  those  nine  "assertions" 
are  groundless  assertions. 

In  showing  that  there  is  no  "deficit" — a  shortage  of  receipts  in 
the  Postoffice  Department  over  its  legitimate  expenditures — I  shall 
not  take  my  nine  statements  up  seriatim,  but  present  my  reasons  in 
a  general  way  for  having  made  such  blunt  declarations.  I  may  go 
about  that,  too,  in  an  awkward  way,  but  the  reader  who  follows  me 
will  get  my  reasons  for  making  those  nine  declarations. 

NO  CREDIT  ALLOWED  FOR  SERVICES  RENDERED   OTHER  DEPARTMENTS. 

If  the  department  of  public  works  in  Chicago  does  a  piece  of 
bricklaying,  concrete  or  other  construction  work  for  the  police,  fire, 
health  or  other  department  of  the  city  government,  or  if  it  carts  or 
hauls  away  some  excavated  material  or  razed  debris  for  any  of  those 
other  departments,  the  service  rendered  is  made  a  charge  by  the 
department  of  public  works  against  the  department  for  which  the 
service  is  rendered. 

What  is  true  in  this  instance  in  Chicago's  municipal  government 
is  true  of  every  other  city  or  incorporated  town  in  this  country  that 
has  its  service  departmentized. 

If  the  County  Commissioners  of  McCrackin  county  build  a  bridge 
or  culvert  for  Ridgepole  township  in  the  county  the  cost  of  construct- 
ing that  bridge  or  culvert  (or  a  proportional  share  of  it,  if  on  a 
general  highway),  is  made  a  charge  against  Ridgepole  township. 

If  the  transportation  department  of  the  United  States  Steel 
Corporation  delivers  the  services  of  three  steam  tugs  (services  rated 
at  $30.00  per  day)  to  the  corporation's  smelting  or  rail  departments 


210  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

there  is  a  credit  of  $90.00  given  to  the  transportation  department, 
and  a  corresponding  charge  made  against  the  department  for  which  the 
service  is  rendered,  for  each  day's  service  rendered. 

That  states  a  recognized  business  rule  and  practice  among  both 
private  and  public  corporations.  Its  valid  and  just  purpose  is  to 
prevent  the  loading  upon  one  department  (any  one  department)  the 
expenses  created  or  incurred  by  another. 

Is  it  not  a  valid,  fair  and  just  method  of  business  ? 

If  it  is  not,  then  the  largest  merchants,  the  most  productive  and 
profitable  manufacturing  establishments,  transportation  companies, 
banking  and  other  mercantile,  industrial  and  financial  institutions 
have  not  discovered  the  fact. 

If  the  owner  of  an  Egyptian  hen  ranch  had  a  shrinkage  in  his 
castor  bean  crop,  he  would  not  think  of  charging  the  cost  or  loss  on 
those  castor  beans  up  to  his  hens,  would  he  ?  Hens  do  not  eat  castor 
beans.  That  is  useless — well — yes,  of  course.  Well,  hens  do  not  eat 
castor  beans,  anyway.  So  my  ill-chosen  illustration,  though  may 
stand — stand  anyway  until  someone  finds  a  breed  of  hens  which  likes 
castor  beans. 

But,  if  the  hens  of  that  hen-rancher  invaded  his  vegetable  garden, 
scratched  up  his  set  onions  and  seeded  radishes,  pecked  holes  in  three 
hundred  heads  of  his  "early"  cabbage  and  otherwise  damaged  the 
fruits  of  his  labor,  care  and  hopes — likewise  disarranged  his  figures 
on  prospective  profits — if  the  hens  did  that,  that  hen-rancher  would 
most  certainly  charge  his  loss  to  the  hens,  would  he  not  ? 

That  is,  he  would  do  so,  if  the  hens  had  attended  to  their  legiti- 
mate business  as  industriously  as  they  looked  after  his  vegetable 
garden  and,  by  reason  of  that  legitimate  effort,  showed  a  "profit 
balance."  The  preceding  is  based,  of  course,  on  the  assumption 
that  the  rancher  has  acumen  enough  to  distinguish  a  hen  from  a 
rooster  and  a  sunflower  from  a  cauliflower.  If  he  is  so  wised  up, 
whether  by  experience  and  observation  or  by  academic  training,  he 
will  most  certainly  charge  his  loss  on  vegetables  against  those  hens. 

"What  is  the  application  of  all  this  to  the  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment deficits?"  some  one  is  justified  in  asking. 

Well,  my  intended  application  of  it  is,  first,  to  show  a  generally 
recognized  and  practical  business  method — a  business  method  prac- 
ticed by  both  public  and  private  corporations  and  by  individuals  and 


POSTAL  RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  211 

firms,  from  the  hen-rancher  to  the  department  store.  My  second 
purpose  is  to  show  that  this  almost  universally  recognized  business 
method  has  been  and  is  totally  ignored  in  conducting  the  vast  service 
affairs  of  the  Federal  Postoffice  Department. 

FREE-IN-COUNTY    MATTER. 

The  1910  report  of  the  Postoffice  Department  states  that  55,639r 
177  pounds  of  second-class  mail  was  carried  and  distributed  free  in 
the  counties  of  these  United  States. 

Of  course,  this  1910  gift  to  country  publishers  is  the  result  of  a 
moss-grown  custom — a  custom  born  of  an  ingrown  desire  common  to 
crooked  politicians — a  desire  to  trade  the  general  public  service  for 
private  service.  All  the  second,  third  and  fourth  class  cities  in  the 
country,  as  well  as  a  majority  of  our  towns  and  larger  incorporated 
villages,  have  their  party  newspaper  or  newspapers. 

Comparatively  speaking,  few  of  them  have  any  extensive  tele- 
graphic service,  if  any  at  all,  in  the  gathering  of  news.  Those  which 
have  not,  capture  the  early  morning  editions — or  the  late  evening 
editions  of  the  day  before — of  two  or  more  metropolitan  papers, 
"crib"  their  "news"  and  deliberately  run  it,  in  many  instances,  as 
special  wires  to  their  own  sheets.  In  some  cases,  which  I  have 
personally  noticed,  that  practice  was  indulged  when  their  own 
"newspaper"  consisted  of  but  two  to  four  locally  printed  pages 
reinforced  by  a  "patent  inside."  Why  should  such  newspapers  (?) 
be  given  "free  distribution"  in  the  county  of  publication? 

They  contain  little  if  any  real  news  and  less  matter  of  any  real 
informative  or  educational  value.  True,  the  most  of  them  do  publish 
a  "local"  column  or  half  column  of  ''news"  for  each  or  for  several  of 
the  outlying  villages  in  the  county  of  publication.  These  "local 
news"  columns  inform  the  reader  that  "Mr.  Benjamin  Pee  wee  circu- 
lated in  Boneville  on  Wednesday  last;"  that  "Mrs.  Cornstalk  and  her 
daughter  Lizzie  are  spending  the  week  at  the  old  homestead,  just 
south  of  town,"  that  "Mr.  Frank  Suds  shipped  a  fine  load  of  hogs 
from  Benson ville  on  Friday  of  this  week,"  etc.,  etc. 

Most  edifying  "news"  that,  is  it  not?  So  didactic  and  brain- 
building,  is  it  not? 

Now,  why  should  the  Postoffice  Department  carry  those  millions 
of  pounds  of  Reubenville  sheets  free? 


212  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

The  department  report  says  it  carried  about  56,000,000  pounds 
of  such  "periodicals"  free  last  year.  The  figures  for  this  year  (1910- 
11)  will  probably  be  around  60,000,000  pounds. 

Why  should  the  department  give  away  $600,000  in  revenues? 

Besides  that,  the  department  does  not  know  how  much  of  this  ''free 
in  county"  matter  it  does  carry  and  distribute.  Of  course,  it  may 
be  able  to  make  a  more  dependable  guess  at  the  total  tonnage  of  such 
second-class  matter  than  can  I.  However,  any  one  who  has  been 
around  the  "county  seat"  or  the  "metropolis"  of  any  of  the  "hill"  or 
'back"  counties  during  a  county,  state  or  national  canvass  for  votes 
will  know  that  the  postmaster's  scales  are  often  sadly  out  of  balance 
when  he  weighs  into  circulation  the  local  newspaper.  In  fact,  it 
frequently  happens  that  he  does  not  weigh  it  at  all — especially  not, 
if  it  be  an  extra  or  extra  large  edition  issued  "for  the  good  of  the 
party" — and  more  especially  not,  if  the  edition  is  issued  to  serve  his 
party. 

"It  goes  free  anyway,  so  what  is  the  difference?"  the  postmaster 
may  argue,  and  with  fairly  valid  grounds  for  such  argument.  The 
department,  acting,  pursuant  of  law,  says  "carry  and  distribute  your 
local  papers  free  inside  your  county."  So  what  difference  does  a  few 
hundred  or  a  few  thousand  pounds,  more  or  less,  make  to  the  depart- 
ment? 

Why,  certainly,  what  difference  can  it  make  ?  It  is  all  done  for 
"the  good  of  the  party,"  is  it  not? 

This  condition,  governing,  as  I  personally  know  it  does  govern, 
furnishes  my  chief  reason  for  saying  that  the  Postoffice  Department 
does  not  know — does  not  know  even  approximately — the  tonnage  of 
the  "free  in  county"  matter  it  handles.  It  never  has  known  and  does 
not  now  know,  within  millions  of  pounds,  the  weight  of  such  matter  it 
carries  and  distributes. 

Again,  I  ask,  why  is  this  vast  burden  thrown  onto  the  department 
and  the  department  getting  not  a  cent  of  either  pay  or  credit  for 
carrying  it?  Is  it  because  of  a  paternal  feeling  our  federal  govern- 
ment has  for  the  poor,  benighted  farmers  of  the  country?  I  can 
scarcely  believe  it  is.  The  farmers  of  this  country  are  neither  poor 
nor  are  they  benighted.  If  they  were,  free  carriage  and  distribution 
to  them  of  these  local  sheets  has  not  enriched  them  to  any  appreciable 
extent,  however  much  such  free  carriage  and  delivery  may  have  add- 


POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS.  213 

ed  to  the  bank  accounts  of  the  publishers  of  such  periodical  litera- 
ture. Besides,  ninety-five  in  every  hundred  farmers  whose  names 
are  on  the  publishers'  subscription  books  pay  their  subscriptions. 
They  usually  pay,  too,  a  pretty  stiff  rate — $1.50  or  $2.00  for  a 
"weekly,"  which  gives  them  mostly  borrowed  news  and  much  of  it 
decidedly  stale  at  that.  If  a  beneficent  government  grants  its  "free 
in  county"  postal  regulation  with  a  view  to  dissipating  the  gloom 
which  clogs  the  garrets  of  our  "benighted  farmers,"  that  government 
misses  its  purpose  on  two  essential  points.  Our  farmers,  as  previously 
intimated,  are  no  more  benighted  than  are  the  residents  of  our 
villages,  towns  and  cities,  and  even  if  their  ignorance  was  as  dense  as 
a  "practical"  politician's  conscience,  the  medium  which  the  Govern- 
ment delivers  to  them,  carriage  free,  seldom  contributes  much  en- 
lightenment. 

No,  it  was  not  for  either  the  enrichment  or  the  enlightenment  of 
the  dear  farmer  that  the  present  "free  in  county"  postal  regulation 
was  made  operative.  It  was  to  give  some  local  party  henchman  a 
fairly  profitable  job  as  publisher  of  a  county  newspaper — a  party 
newspaper — and  to  have,  in  him,  a  county  "heeler"  who  would  divide 
his  time  between  building  the  party  fences  and  telling  the  dear  farmer 
how  to  vote. 

It  is  due  to  the  publishers  of  country  newspapers  to  say,  that 
hundreds  of  them  have  grown  away  from  rigid  party  ties — have 
grown  independent.  It  is  also  but  just  to  say  that  as  these  publishers 
have  grown  independent  of  party  dominition,  their  newspapers  have 
improved.  We  have  now  many  most  excellent  country  papers 
published  in  our  "down  state"  cities  and  larger  towns. 

The  points  I  desire  to  make,  however,  are,  first,  the  "free  in 
county"  mail  delivery  regulation  was  originally  adopted  for  partisan 
political  purposes,  not  to  serve  the  farmer  residents  of  the  counties, 
and,  second,  that  such  regulation  is  unjustly  discriminating  and  is 
raiding  the  service  earnings  of  the  Postoffice  Department  to  the  extent 
of  at  least  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  annually.  In  my  opinion 
such  raiding  will  reach  seven  or  eight  hundred  thousands  a  year. 

FRANKED    AND    PENALTY    MATTER. 

Going  back  now  to  that  generally  recognized  and  practical 
business  method  referred  to  and  which  the  government  presistently 


214  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

refuses  or  neglects  to  adopt  in  handling  and  directing  the  fiscal 
affairs  of  its  Postoffice  Department,  we  find  another  raid  on  that 
department's  revenues. 

Third  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  James  J.  Britt,  makes  a  sort 
of  estimate  of  the  amount  of  free  second-class  matter  of  Government 
origin  the  Postoffice  Department  transported  and  distributed  during 
the  fiscal  year  ended,  June  30,  1910.  Mr.  Britt  places  the  figure  at 
50,120,884  pounds. 

Mr.  Britt's  estimate  is  based  on  a  six  months'  weighing  period  in 
1907  (the  last  half  of  that  year.)  It  is  reported  as  a  "special  weigh- 
ing" and  showed  26,578,047  pounds  of  "free  in  county"  second-class 
matter  and  23,941,782  pounds  of  free  franked  and  penalty  matter  of 
the  second-class.  Mr.  Britt  then  proceeds  (page  335  of  the  depart- 
ment report  for  1910),  to  arrive  at  his  estimated  tonnaged  of  franked 
and  penalty  matter  by  assuming  that  the  weight  ratio  of  such  second- 
class  matter  to  "free  in  county"  matter  would  be  about  the  same  for 
1910.  He  says:  "If,  as  it  seems  reasonable  to  believe,  the  relative 
proportions  of  this  character  of  matter  have  remained  the  same," 
there  would  result  for  the  fiscal  year  1909-10  the  figures  he  gives  for 
the  franked  and  penalty  tonnage,  or  50,120,884  pounds. 

Well,  to  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  it  does  not  seem  "reasonable 
to  believe"  that  such  method  of  estimating  is  sound  nor-fche  tonnage 
result  attained  by  it  dependable.  The  year  1907  was  a  decidedly  off- 
year  in  franked  matter  of  the  second-class.  The  then  President  kept 
most  of  the  Senators  and  Congressmen  guessing  as  to  just  what  he 
intended  to  do  in  the  matter  of  the  presidential  nomination  of  his 
party.  In  fact,  he  kept  a  goodly  number  of  federal  legislators 
guessing  on  that  point  until  well  along  in  1908.  The  result  of  this 
condition  of  doubt  was  greatly  to  lessen  the  franked  mailings  and  also 
reduced  in  material  degree  the  mailing  of  departmental,  or  "penalty" 
matter  of  the  second-class. 

For  this  and  several  other  reasons,  the  tonnage  of  franked  and 
penalty  matter  reported  as  carried  in  the  last  half  of  1907 — even  if 
the  "special  weighing"  Mr.  Britt  mentions  was  accurate  and  depend- 
able, which  it  was  not  and  could  not  be,  either  then  or  now,  under  the 
lax  methods  by  which  such  weighings  were  and  are  made — the  re- 
ported weight  of  such  franked  and  penalty  matter  carried  in  the  last 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  215 

half  of  1907  furnishes  no  fair  or  safe  basis  upon  which  to  predicate 
1910  totals  or  to  base  a  dependable  estimate  of  them. 

Another  defective  factor  is  used  in  Mr.  Britt's  estimate — the 
reported  total  weight  of  "free  in  county"  second-class  matter  as 
ascertained  by  special  weighing  in  the  last  half  of  1907.  As  previous- 
ly stated  in  discussing  the  raid  of  six  to  eight  hundred  thousand 
dollars  a  year  made  upon  the  postal  service  revenues  by  this  "free  in 
county"  matter,  the  department's  reported  figures  for  it  are  little 
more  than  a  robust  guess  at  its  tonnage,  even  now,  and  the  figures 
given  for  1907  are  much  less  trustworthy  than  are  the  department's 
estimates  and  guesses  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  in  1910.  Whatever 
may  be  said  of  its  faults  and  faulty  purposes,  it  is  but  simple  justice 
to  say  the  present  departmental  administration  has  shown  more 
judgment  and  activity  and  has  put  forth  more  strenuous  effort  to  get 
to  the  bottom  of  things  and  at  dependable  facts  in  mail  weights  than 
has  been  shown  by  any  of  its  recent  predecessors. 

Still,  I  repeat  that  its  reported  figures  for  the  total  tonnage 
of  "free  in  county"  for  carriage  and  delivery  of  second-class  mail 
matter  are  not  sufficiently  reliable  to  warrant  their  use  as  a  basis 
for  making  a  dependable  estimate  of  the  tonnage  of  another  free 
division  of  second  class  mail.  Especially  unreliable  are  the  figures 
reported  as  total  tonnage  of  free-in-county-matter  as  a  basis  for 
estimating  the  tonnage  of  a  division  of  the  service  so  far  removed 
from  "free  in  county"  as  is  that  of  free  franked  and  penalty  matter. 

All  that  aside,  however,  the  fact  is  the  Postoffice  Department 
should  receive  credit  for  every  pound  of  franked  or  penalty  matter  it 
handles  for  the  legislative  and  other  departments  of  the  government 
service. 

Mr.  Britt  himself  appears  to  recognize  the  force  of  that  fact.  On 
page  335  of  the  department  report  for  1910,  he  speaks  as  follows: 

The  public  mind  seems  unusually  acute  on  the  subject  of  free  mailing  facili- 
ties, and  there  is  much  criticism  in  the  public  press  of  the  continuance  of  the 
franking  privilege  and  the  use  of  the  penalty  envelope,  the  suggestion  being  often 
made  that  the  same  should  be  abolished  and  that  this  department  should  receive 
proper  credit  in  accounting  for  matter  now  being  carried  free.  It  is  therefore  sug- 
gested that  consideration  be  given  to  the  desirability  of  eliminating  the  transpor- 
tation of  mail  matter  under  frank  or  penalty  clause,  in  order  that  the  Postoffice 
Department  may  receive  due  and  proper  credit  for  the  tremendous,  and  in  some 


216  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

part  possibly  unnecessary,  services  which  it  is  performing  free,  to  its  apparent 
financial  embarrassment. 

It  is  probably  true  that  the  use  of  the  penalty  envelope  and  the  franking 
privilege  is  availed  of  with  undue  liberality,  even  if  not  actually  abused,  as  is 
often  alleged ;  that  is  to  say,  the  same  care  is  not  taken  to  confine  the  mailings  of 
governmental  and  congressional  matter  to  only  that  which  is  necessary  as  would 
undoubtedly  be  the  case  if  there  were  a  strict  accountability  for  their  use. 

It  will  be  noted  that  Mr.  Britt  in  the  foregoing  covers  other  than 
second-class  mail  matter.  Taking  the  figures  of  his  estimate  of  the 
volume  of  free  franked  and  penalty  matter  of  the  second-class  (51,- 
000,000  pounds  in  round  numbers,  which  I  believe  is  so  conservative 
as  to  be  far  below  the  actual  tonnage),  then  the  various  other  depart- 
ments of  the  government  are  raiding  the  revenues  of  the  Postoffice 
Department  to  the  extent  of  $510,000  for  the  carrying  and  handling 
of  their  second-class  mail  alone.  That  is,  they  are  requiring  the  Post- 
office  Department  to  render  to  them  without  pay  or  credit  over  a  half- 
million  dollars'  worth  of  service  a  year.  That  is  figured  at  the  2nd  class 
rate  of  1  cent  a  pound.  If  Mr.  Britt's  own  estimate,  on  another 
page  of  the  same  report,  that  it  cost  the  Postoffice  Department  9 
cents  a  pound  to  transport  and  handle  second-class  mail,  is  correct, 
which  as  previously  shown  it  is  not,  then  other  departments  of  the 
government  would  be  raiding  the  postal  service  revenues — revenues 
which  private  individuals,  firms,  corporations  and  governments 
subordinate,  now  alone  pay — to  the  extent  of  more  than  $4,500,000  a 
year. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  by  the  reader,  however,  that  Mr.  Britt's 
estimate  of  51,000,000  pounds  (a  round  figure)  of  second-class  matter 
carried  and  handled  free  by  his  department  for  other  departments  of 
the  federal  government  does  not  represent  the  total  of  service 
rendered  those  other  departments  for  which  the  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment received  neither  pay  nor  credit.  Far  from  it. 

Hundreds  of  tons — how  many  hundreds  of  tons,  I  do  not  know, 
nor  have  I  been  able  to  find  an  authority  or  record  to  inform  myself— 
of  letters  and  other  sealed  matter  were  carried  and  distributed  by  the 
Postoffice  Department  for  other  departments.  For  that  service  not 
a  cent  in  pay  or  credit  was  received. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  service  rate  for  carrying  and 
handling  the  class  of  matter  (first-class)  we  are  here  speaking  of  is  2 
cents  per  ounce  or  fraction  thereof.  That  is,  the  rate  is  not  less  than 


^  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  217 

32  cents  a  pound,  not  1  cent  a  pound  as  is  the  rate  on  second  class  on 
which  Mr.  Britt  gives  his  estimate  of  tonnage  carried. 

Why  should  not  the  Senate  and  the  House,  the  Judicial,  War, 
Navy,  Interior  and  other  departments  of  the  government  be  required 
to  provide  in  their  annual  appropriation  bills  for  paying  for  the  first- 
class  service  furnished  them  by  the  Postoffice  Department? 

The  postal  service  of  the  government  is  also  rendered  free  to  the 
several  departments  to  handle  all  their  third  and  fourth  class  mail 
matter.  What  the  annual  tonnage  of  these  two  classes  aggregates  I 
have  been  unable  to  learn.  Whether  or  not  the  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment keeps  any  records  showing  the  aggregate  mailings  by  the  other 
departments,  I  do  not  know.  I  do  know,  however,  that  it  gets  neither 
pay  nor  credit  for  transporting  and  handling  the  third  and  fourth  class 
matter  put  to  mail  by  the  other  departments  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment. That  the  total  weight  mailed  must  run  into  many  hundreds 
of  tons  yearly  for  each  of  the  classes  named  there  can  be  little  grounds 
for  doubt  or  question,  records  or  no  records. 

The  mailing  rate  on  third-class  is  eight  cents  a  pound.  On 
fourth-class  it  is  sixteen  cents  a  pound.  Those  are  the  rates  the 
people  have  to  pay.  That  both  rates  are  outrageously  excessive  is 
well  known  to  every  one  who  has  made  even  a  cursory  study  of  the 
cost  of  transporting  and  handling  government  mails,  and  the  irony 
of  it  all  is  the  stock  arguments  put  up  by  postoffice  and  other  federal 
officials  to  justify  such  outrageous  rates. 

"The  rates  are  necessary  to  make  the  Postoffice  Department  self- 
supporting — to  avoid  a  deficit,"  or  statements  of  similar  washed  out 
force  and  import.  And  that  in  face  of  the  fact  that  the  government 
permits  its  departments,  bureaus,  divisions,  "commissions,"  etc.,  to 
raid  the  postal  revenues  by  loading  upon  the  postal  service  the  cost 
of  transporting  and  distributing  thousands  of  tons  of  mail  matter 
for  which  it  gets  not  a  cent  of  pay  or  credit. 

Nice  business  methods  or  practice  that,  is  it  not? 

Beautiful  "argument,"  this  prattle  about  deficits  in  the  postal 
revenues,  is  it  not? 

Why,  it  is  humorous  enough  to  make  empty  headed  fools  laugh 
and  sensible  men  use  language  which  postal  regulations  bar  from  the 
mails. 

Think  of  the  tons  upon  tons  of  official  reports,  of  the  bound 


218  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

volumes  of  the  Congressional  Record,  of  copies  of  the  Supreme 
Courts  rulings  and  other  printed  books  and  pamphlets  distributed  by 
the  Departments  of  War,  Navy,  Agriculture,  Interior  and  others. 

All  these  fall  into  the  third-class,  or  8-cent-a-pound  rate. 

Think  of  the  tons  upon  tons  of  seeds — farm,  garden  and  flower — 
sent  by  Congressmen  to  their  constituents — to  thousands  of  constitu- 
ents who  do  not  need  the  seeds,  in  fact,  who  can  make  no  possible  use 
of  them ;  of  the  tons  upon  tons  of  clothing,  suitings,  household  bric-a- 
brac,  etc.,  franked  by  Senators  and  Congressmen  to  their  homes,  to 
their  wives,  children,  sweethearts  or  friends. 

Investigations  in  the  past  have  shown  that  hundreds  of  type- 
writers, office  desks,  even  articles  of  household  furniture,  were  sent 
home  under  frank. 

It  was  also  shown  in  several  instances,  if  I  remember  rightly,  that 
some  of  the  typewriters,  etc.,  were  never  franked  back  to  government 
possession.  However  that  may  be,  all  such  mailings  are  of  the  fourth 
class  and  fall  into  the  16-cent  a  pound  rate  for  carriage  and  handling. 

Let  us  here  foot  up  the  amount  of  the  raidings  on  the  postal 
funds,  so  far  as  we  have  gone. 

First, — There  is  the  free-in-county  second-class — $600,000  to 
$800,000. 

Second, — There  is  the  free  second-class  franked  and  penalty 
matter.  Third  Assistant  Postmaster  General  Britt  "estimates"  it  at 
$510,000,  figured  at  the  present  one-cent  rate.  I  have"  shown  the 
weakness  of  Mr.  Britt's  basis  of  estimate.  In  my  judgment  the 
tonnage  of  franked  and  penalty  second-class  mail  is  nearer  75,000,000 
pounds  than  his  estimate  of  51,000,000  pounds.  But  to  take  Mr. 
Britt's  figures,  there  is  another  raid  of  $510,000  on  the  service  revenues 
of  the  Postoffice  Department. 

Next,  we  have  the  free  first,  third  and  fourth  class  matter  which 
the  postal  service  handles  under  franking  or  penalty  regulations. 

How  much  does  this  raid  total?  How  much  has  and  does  this 
raid  contribute  toward  the  creation  of  that  "deficit"  which  has  so 
long,  so  continuously  and  so  brazenly  been  used  to  bubble  the  people 
in  politico-postal  oratory  and  writing? 

The  reader  must  keep  in  mind  that  we  are  here  asking  about  the 
thirty-two,  the  eight  and  the  sixteen  cents  a  pound  classes  of  mail. 
To  what  extent  have  the  various  departments  of  the  government 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  219 

raided  the  postal  funds  by  taxing  the  postal  service  with  their  over- 
load of  the  character  indicated?  That  they  have  taxed  the  Post- 
office  Department's  revenues  by  demanding  of  that  department  its 
highest  class  and  highest  rated  service  in  unlimited  degree,  and  that, 
too,  without  one  cent  of  compensation,  pay  or  credit,  is  a  fact  which  no 
informed  man  will  attempt  to  controvert. 

But  what  did  such  service  (and  abuse  of  service)  cost  the 
Postoffice  Department?  To  what  extent  did  and  does  this  "frank 
and  penalty"  privilege  in  first,  third  and  fourth  class  use  of  the  mails 
loot  or  raid  the  postal  revenues? 

Is  it  to  the  extent  of  three,  two  or  one  million  dollars  ?  Is  it  lower 
than  the  lowest  or  higher  than  the  highest  figures  just  named  ? 

I  do  not  know — do  you?  Have  you,  the  reader,  been  able  to 
ascertain  from  the  records  of  the  Postoffice  Department,  or  elsewhere, 
any  figures  or  data  that  enables  you  to  make  even  a  "frazzled"  guess 
at  the  approximate  cost  to  the  postal  department  of  this  unjust — this 
politically  and  governmentally  crooked  burden  put  upon  it? 

I  have  hunted  and  have  found  nothing  but  talk,  and  a  few  figures 
scattered  here  and  there  and  gathered  from — well,  the  Lord  may 
know  where.  But  the  Lord  has  failed  to  inform  me.  So  I  am  in 
ignorance — am  benighted,  just  like  our  "poor  farmers,"  both  as  to  the 
source  of  the  figures  I  have  seen  and  as  to  their  force  and  value  in 
reaching  a  fair  conclusion  as  to  the  aggregate  amount  of  postal  rev- 
enues the  departmental  raiders  have  been  and  are  carrying  off.  If  any 
reader  knows  or  can  dig  up  the  facts,  he  will  confer  a  great  favor  by 
handing  the  information  to  The  Man  on  the  Ladder.  Not  only  that, 
but  I  am  confident  that  the  people  of  this  country  will  give  such 
reader  a  niche,  if  needed  not  a  conspicuous  position,  in  their  Hall  of 
Fame,  if  he  will  give  them  even  a  dependable  approximation  of  the 
extent  to  which  the  postal  service  revenues  are  raided — looted — by 
federal  department  abuses — their  service  and  their  money,  for  the  de- 
partments pay  not  one  dollar  for  the  thousands  of  tons  of  mail  matter 
of  the  various  classes  which  the  Postoffice  Department  transports  and 
handles  for  them. 

So  far  or  so  long  has  this  departmental — bureaucratic,  that  is  what 
it  is — practice  of  raiding  the  postal  revenues  by  loading  its  service 
continued,  that  the  Postoffice  Department  has  been  and  is  lootina 
itself  by  the  same  practice. 


220  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

This  volume  is  written  during  what  is  known  as  the  "weighing 
period"  in  the  postal  service,  the  weighing  being  done  to  establish  a 
basis  for  four  years  on  which  the  railroads  transporting  the  federal 
mails  shall  be  paid.  In  other  words,  as  basis  for  a  "railway-mail- 
pay"  rate,  which  rate  will  govern  railway  contracts  for  carrying  the 
mails  for  a  period  of  four  years. 

During  the  current  weighing  period  I  have,  at  various  times,  both 
during  the  day  and  at  night,  watched  the  weighing  for  varying  inter- 
vals of  from  an  hour  to  two  hours.  Among  the  revenue  raids  ob- 
served during  those  hours  of  leisure  (?),  I  shall  here  mention  a  few. 
As  the  present  Postmaster  General  treats  all  departmental,  or  "pen- 
alty," matter  as  "franked"  matter  (See  page  11  of  the  •  Postoffice 
Department  report  of  1910),  I  shall,  in  the  brief  mention  of  personally 
observed  facts  at  several  railway  stations  in  Chicago  do  likewise. 

(1)  Three  carloads  of  Senate  speeches,  franked  to  Chicago  in 
bulk,  the  bulk  then  broken  and  the  speeches  remailed,  under  frank, 
to  individual  addresses. 

I  do  not  know  the  tonnage  of  those  three  cars.  Local  news- 
paper reports  stated  that  there  were  3,000,000  copies  of  one  of  the 
speeches.  I  take  it  that  sixty  tons  is  a  low  figure  for  the  three  car- 
loads. The  actual  weight  was  probably  nearer  ninety  tons.  But 
leave  it  at  sixty,  the  remailing  in  piece  at  bulk  destination  makes 
the  weight  120  tons  on  which  the  Postoffice  Department  had  to  pay 
transportation,  on  sixty  tons  of  which  it  also  had  to  stand  the  expense 
of  piece  handling. 

(2)  Another  carload  of  Senatorial  vocal  effort  passed  through 
Chicago  to  a  destination  far  west.     I  do  not  know,  but  presume  it  was 
in  bulk,  and  on  arrival,  bulk  was  broken  and  the  matter  returned  to 
mail  for  piece  distribution. 

The  reader  must  not  overlook  the  fact  that  the  character  of  matter 
carried  in  those  four  carloads  was  third-class — was  eight-cent-a-pound 
matter.  There  were  eighty  tons  or  more  of  it  in  bulk  and  its  remailing 
in  piece  would  make  it  160  tons. 

If  a  manufacturer,  merchant  or  other  business  man  put  to  mail 
160  tons  of  third-class  matter  he  would  contribute  to  the  postal 
service  revenue  just  $25,600. 

(3)  Three  crates  of  fruit  went  into  a  mail  car  at  one  time,  two 
cases  of  canned  goods  at  another  and  a  crate  of  tomatoes  at  another 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  221 

without  passing  over  the  weighing  scale.  A  drum  of  coffee,  fifty  to 
eighty  pounds  in  weight,  went  to  mail  at  another  time,  and  a  large 
sack  of  sawdust  at  another. 

Both  of  the  last  mentioned  went  over  the  weighing  scale  before 
they  went  to  the  mail  car. 

I  am  speaking  only  of  what  casual  or  chance  notice  brought  to 
my  attention  in  three  railway  stations  in  Chicago.  If  similar  or 
corresponding  abuses  were  indulged  at  other  stations  here,  as  it  is  a 
legitimate  inference  they  were,  it  is  also  a  legitimate  inference  that 
similar  abuses  were,  and  are,  practiced  throughout  the  country, 
especially  in  cities  of  the  first,  second  and  third  classes — in  cities  and 
towns  on  which  has  been  conferred  the  distinguished  honor  of  having 
their  mail  handled  under  the  watchful  eye  and  supervising  care  of  a 
"Presidential  Postmaster,"  that  is,  by  a  postmaster  appointed  by  tlie 
President  for  partisan  reasons  and  prospective  uses. 

Again  going  back  to  our  mutton,  I  repeat  the  question,  "What  is 
the  extent  of  this  'franking'  and  'penalty'  raid  upon  the  revenues  of 
the  Postoffice  Department?"  I  have  cited  three  local  instances 
merely  to  give  a  "hunch" — to  blaze  a  line  along  which  thoughtful 
people  may  safely  think,  and  think  to  some  fairly  satisfying  conclu- 
sion. I  do  not  know  the  extent  of  the  lootage  of  postal  revenues  by 
the  uses  and  abuses  of  those  "frank"  and  "penalty"  regulations. 
You  do  not  know,  and  the  present  Postmaster  General  admits  he 
does  not  know,  nor  has  he  any  means  or  method  of  ascertaining. 

On  page  11  of  the  report  of  the  Postoffice  Department  for  the 
fiscal  year  1909-1910,  Mr.  Hitchcock  very  frankly  states  the  fact  and 
gives  his  personal  opinion  of  the  extent  of  the  franking  raid  upon  the 
service  of  his  department.  He  also  suggests  a  partial  remedy  which 
also  I  shall  quote  because  it  is  a  good  suggestion,  on  right  lines,  and  for 
making  it  Mr.  Hitchcock  deserves  the  thanks  of  a  people  over-bur- 
dened by  the  abuses  his  suggestion  would,  I  believe,  correct  in  mater- 
ial degree.  At  any  rate,  the  suggestion  is  on  right  lines.  Following 
is  what  he  says  : 

The  unrestricted  manner  in  which  the  franking  privilege  is  now  being  used 
by  the  several  federal  services  and  by  Congress  has  laid  it  open  to  serious  abuses — 
a  fact  clearly  established  through  investigations  recently  instituted  by  the  de- 
partment. While  it  has  been  impossible  without  a  better  control  of  franking  to 
determine  the  exact  expense  to  the  government  of  this  practice,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  tliat  it  annually  reaches  into  the  millions.  It  is  believed  that  many  abuses 


222  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

of  the  franking  system  could  be  prevented,  and  consequently  a  marked  economy 
effected,  by  supplying  through  the  agencies  of  the  postal  service  special  official 
envelopes  and  stamps  for  the  free  mail  of  the  government,  all  such  envelopes  and 
stamps  to  be  issued  on  requisition  to  the  various  branches  of  the  federal  service 
requiring  them,  and  such  records  to  be  kept  of  official  stamp  supplies  as  will 
enable  the  Postoffice  Department  to  maintain  a  proper  postage  account  covering 
the  entire  volume  of  free  government  mail. 

"There  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  annually  reaches  into  the  millions ," 
says  Mr.  Hitchcock  of  the  cost  to  his  department  of  transporting  and 
handling  the  government  free  mail  matter — frank  and  penalty 
matter.  It  should  also  be  noted  that  he  says  that  "the  unrestricted 
manner  in  which  the  franking  privilege  is  now  being  used  by  the 
several  federal  services  and  by  Congress,  has  laid  it  open  to  serious 
abuses." 

Not  only  are  the  foregoing  statements  of  our  Postmaster  General 
true,  but  with  equal  truth  he  could  have  said  that  the  abuses  of  the 
postal  service  practiced  by  other  federal  departments  have  en- 
couraged—have coached,  so  to  speak, — the  Postoffice  Department 
into  abusing  itself. 

Those  crates  of  fruit  and  cases  of  canned  goods  which  I  saw  loaded 
into  mail  cars  were  probably  for  some  postmaster  who  conducted  a 
grocery  or  fruit  stand,  as  a  "side"  to  his  official  duties.  Or  they  may 
have  gone  to  some  "friend"  or  "good  fellow"  along  the  line,  or  to 
some  one  who  stood  for  a  "split"  of  the  express  charges  on  such  a 
shipment. 

The  drum  of  coffee  and  sack  of  sawdust  may  have  had  consignees 
of  similar  character.  But  their  shipment  as  mail  matter  showed 
another  abuse  of  the  postal  service  by  the  Postoffice  Department 
itself,  or  by  employes  of  that  department.  They  were  weighed  into 
rail  transportation  at  a  time  when  the  average  weight  of  mail  carried 
during  a  period  of  three  or  six  months  would  govern  the  rate  of  pay  the 
transporting  railroad  would  receive  for  carrying  the  mails  during  a 
period  of  jour  years. 

The  same  might  be  said  of  the  four  carloads  of  Senatorial 
eloquence  referred  to  on  a  previous  page.  Those  cars  were  franked 
through  during  the  weighing  period  in  the  postal  service.  There  is  this 
difference,  however,  between  those  four  cars  of  franked  eloquence  and 
the  drum  of  coffee  and  sack  of  sawdust.  The  former  was  an  abuse  of 
the  postal  service  and  a  raid  upon  its  revenues  by  permission,  if  not 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  223 

by  authority,  of  the  postal  statutes.  The  latter  was  an  abuse  of  the 
postal  service  and  raid  upon  its  revenues  by  employes  of  the  Post- 
office  Department  itself. 

But  the  point  we  are  after  is  the  extent  of  federal  departmental 
raid  upon  the  postal  revenues.  How  much  is  it?  I  have  confessed 
my  ignorance  of  the  sum  such  raid  will  total.  Our  Postmaster 
General  has  (see  last  preceding  quotation) ,  confessed  his  ignorance  of 
the  total.  He  says  there  can  be  "no  doubt  that  it  annually  reaches 
into  many  millions." 

I  have  no  other  evidence  or  authority  at  hand  save  the  testi- 
mony of  William  A.  Glasgow,  Jr.,  before  the  Penrose-Overstreet 
Commission  in  1906.  Mr.  Glasgow  represented  the  Periodical 
Publishers'  Association.  In  presenting  the  case  for  that  association — 
strong,  reputable  body,  representing  vast  business  and  public  service 
(educational,  social,  fraternal  and  trade  interests) — Mr.  Glasgow  used 
the  following  language : 

You  may  take  the  revenues  of  the  Post  office  Department  and  give  away  $19,- 
000,000  per  annum  in  the  franking  privilege  to  other  departments  of  government  and 
then  give  away  $28,000,000  per  annum  in  the  beneficent  advantages  of  rural  free 
delivery,  and  then  lose  millions  in  unequal  and  exorbitant  transportation  charges, 
certainly  $5,000,000,  and  thus  create  an  apparent  and  artificial  deficit  and  use 
that  as  a  basis  for  further  taxation  upon  those  who  read  magazines,  but  no  one 
will  be  deceived  by  such  an  excuse  and  no  wise  Congress  will  be  moved  by  con- 
siderations so  transparent  or  necessities  so  unreal. — Page  544  Penrose-Over  street 
Report  (Hearings),  1906-7. 

If  Mr.  Glasgow  were  speaking  in  1911,  I  have  no  doubt  he  would 
have  raised  his  figure  of  $19,000,000  to  twenty  or  more  millions  as  a 
nearer  approximate  of  the  total  of  federal  departmental  raids  upon 
the  earnings  or  revenues  of  the  Post  office  Department. 

Do  not  misunderstand  me. 

All  legitimate  departmental  service  should  be  rendered  by  the 
Postoffice  Department,  but  that  department  should  receive  credit 
for  such  service  rendered. 

The  departmental  "abuses"  of  the  postal  service  are  steals. 
They  should  not  be  tolerated.  If  extra-departmental  service  is 
rendered  (as  is  well  known  it  is),  it  should  be  paid  for  just  the  same — 
and  at  the  same  service  rates — that  Jim  Jones,  Susie  Bowers  and 
(Widow  Finerty  are  compelled  to  pay  for  similar  service. 

Now,  we  have  raidings  on  the  postoffice  revenues  by  the  govern- 


^24  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

rnent  departments  themselves,  including  free  in  county,  and  by  the 
Postoffice  Department's  looseness  of  methods  in  handling  its  own 
business,  of  somewheres  around  $22,000,000  a  year,  not  counting  the 
stuffing  of  weights  during  the  "weighing  period",  which  goes  to  swell 
the  railway  mail  pay  rates  for  mail  carrying  railroads  for  a  period  of 
four  years. 

As  to  the  last,  I  wish  to  say  that  Mr.  Hitchcock,  the  present 
Postmaster  General,  has  done  more  to  correct  such  weighing  frauds 
than  has  any  of  his  predecessors  within  the  range  of  my  study  of  the 
question.  Yet  it  lingers — hangs  on  to  an  extent  which  should  put 
some  subordinate  postoffice  officials  and  railway  officials  in  restraint 
— put  them  out  of  range  of  opportunity  for  such  looting. 

In  the  face  of  an  annual  raid  of  $22,000,000,  what  is  the  use  of  all 
this  prattle — prattle  extending  over  years — about  deficits  in  the 
postal  service?  Will  some  one  kindly  rise  in  the  front  pews  of  the 
postal  department  or  in  the  sanctum  of  its  beneficiaries  and  tell  us  ? 

There  is  no  deficit  in  the  postoffice  service  revenues.  The  peopte 
pay  and  have  paid  for  more  service  than  is  rendered — for  more  service 
than  they  have  received  or  do  receive. 

"But  what  difference  to  the  people  does  it  make  whether  they 
pay  for  carrying  the  departmental  mail  out  of  the  postal  revenues 
or  have  each  department  pay  for  its  own  mail  carriage  and  handling?" 
is  a  common  answering  interrogative  argument  (?)  to  my  immediately 
preceding  charge  that  the  various  government  departments  raid 
the  postal  revenues  to  the  extent  of  "many  millions,"  as  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock has  put  it.  '  'The  people  have  to  pay  for  it  anyway,  do  they  not  ?" 

Just  so,  and  what  difference  does  it  make  ?  Well,  here  are  a  few 
points  of  difference  which  might  be  seen  and  comprehended  without 
jarring  any  fairly  normal  intellect  off  its  pedestal : 

1.  To  have  the  departments  pay  or  give  credit  to  the  Postoffice 
Department  for  the  service  it  renders  to  them  is  an  honest  and 
approved  method  in  any  other  business.     The  present  method  not 
only  violates  sound  business  principles  but  is  dishonest  as  well — 
dishonest  because  it  throws  the  burden  of  those  "many  millions" 
for  mail  haulage  and  handling  of  franked  and  penalty  matter  upon 
the  postal  rate  papers,  and  not  upon  all  the  people  of  the  country 
as  it  should. 

2.  If  the  free  congressional  and  departmental  matter  now  costs, 


POSTAL    RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS.  225 

say  $20,000,000  a  year  for  mail  haulage  and  handling,  then  the 
government  is  practicing  a  policy  which  both  originates  and  dis- 
tributes revenue  without  appropriation.  In  other  words,  the  general 
government  in  such  practice  unsurps  the  function  of  originating 
revenue  which  function,  under  the  Constitution,  is  vested  in  the 
Lower  House  of  Congress. 

Next,  the  general  government  distributes  that  $20,000,000  (or  its 
equivalent  in  service,  which  amounts  to  the  same  thing),  to  the 
several  departments,  or  lets  each  department  raid  that  service  as  it 
pleases.  It  does  this  in  flat  violation  of  another  section  or  clause  of 
the  Federal  Constitution  which  provides  that  the  cost  of  maintenance 
and  operation,  including  any  contemplated  construction  and  perma- 
nent betterments,  shall  be  provided  for  in  an  annual  appropriation 
bill. 

3.  The  recommended  method  would  greatly  lessen  the  "abuses'* 
of  the  postal  service  by  government  departments  and  officials  of 
which  Mr.  Hitchcock  speaks.     On  the  other  hand,  the  method  of  the 
present  and  the  past  invites  such  abuses.     Abuses  grow  but  do  not 
improve  with  age.     Each  year  the  abuses  of  which  Mr.  Hitchcock 
speaks  in  his  1910  report  have  grown  until  abuses  is  scarcely  a  fitting 
designation  for  them.     These  abuses  of  the  postal  service  have  grown, 
and  grown  in  such  a  stealthy,  porch-climbing  way,  that  they  amount 
to  a  colossal  steal  every  year. 

4.  When  they  hear  so  much  yodling  about  "deficits"  in  the 
Postoffice  Department,  millions  of  our  people  are  led  to  believe  that 
such  deficits  are  created  by  an  excess  of  cost  over  receipts  in  carrying 
the  letters,  postal  and  postcards,  the  newspapers,  magazines  and 
other  periodicals,   the  books  and  merchandise,   which  the  people 
themselves  entrust  to  the  mails  for  delivery.     They  hear  that  the 
postal  service  "should  be  self-supporting,"  that  "each  division  of  the 
service  should  be  self-sustaining"  and  then  they  are  called  on  for 
higher  service  rates  to  meet  "deficits." 

Why  should  this  great  government  of  ours  permit  its  officials 
longer  to  gold-brick  the  people  with  such  ping-pong  talk?  Why  not 
tell  the  people  the  truth,  or  at  least  give  them  an  open,  honest  oppor- 
tunity to  learn  the  truth? 

The  annual  federal  appropriation  bills  informs  them  at  least  of 
the  "estimated"  expenditures  for  the  year  for  other  departments. 


226  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Why  not  give  them  an  honest  estimate  of  what  it  costs  the  Postoffice 
Department  to  render  a  service  which  should  serve  them  9 

Other  easily  comprehended  differences  between  the  present 
method  of  loading  all  governmental  mail  service  upon  the  Postoffice 
Department  without  pay  or  credit  for  the  vast  service  rendered  and  a 
method  which  would  give  that  department  such  credit  could  readily 
be  mentioned.  However,  the  four  points  of  difference  between  the 
two  methods  above  cited,  and  the  advantages  which  would  accrue 
both  to  the  service  and  the  people  by  adopting  an  approved,  honest 
business  method  instead  of  the  present  unfair,  foolish  and  dishonest 
one,  are  sufficient,  I  think,  to  convince  the  reader  that  there  are 
differences  between  these  right  and  wrong  ways  of  handling  the 
nation's  postal  service — its  governmental  mail  matter — that  are  of 
vital  importance — differences  which- on  the  one  hand  invite  raidings, 
waste  and  lootage  of  the  postoffice  revenues  and  on  the  other  would 
make  for  economies  in  the  service  and  for  business  care  and  honesty 
in  the  use  and  expenditures  of  those  revenues. 

EXPRESS    COMPANIES  CONDUCTING    A    CRIMINAL    TRAFFIC. 

But,  says  another  apologist  for  the  loose,  wasteful  methods  of 
the  Postoffice  Department  in  handling  both  its  service  and  its  revenues, 
"The  postal  service  was  originally  instituted  for  handling  the  govern- 
ment mail  only." 

That  be  as  it  may,  though  I  doubt  the  sweeping  assertion  of  the 
statement  made,  just  as  I  doubt  the  integrity  and  truthfulness  of 
purpose  of  the  person  making  it.  It  came  to  my  notice  as  part  of  an 
argument  ( ?)  in  defense  of  the  outrageous  railway  mail  pay  and  mail- 
car  rental  charges  which  mail  carrying  railroads  have  been  permitted 
to  collect  from  the  postal  revenues  paid  by  the  people.  But  whether 
or  not  the  postal  service  was  originally  intended  to  be  merely  a  dis- 
patch service  for  transmission  of  government  orders,  documents,  etc., 
can  stand  as  no  valid  reason  now  for  the  Federal  Government's 
permitting  its  several  departments  to  use  and  abuse  the  vast  system 
for  intercommunication  among  the  people  which  it  has  permitted 
to  be  built  up,  and  for  the  building  of  which  it  has  taxed  (by  way  of 
postal  charges)  those  who  made  use  of  the  system — taxed  them 
excessively,  if  indeed  not  somewhat  unscrupulously — whether  or  not, 
not,  I  say,  the  government  originally  intended  the  mail  service  to  be 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  227 

an  exclusive  service  for  use  of  the  government  only  has  no  present 
bearing.  If  such  was  the  original  intention,  the  foolishness  of  it 
must  soon  have  become  apparent,  for  we  find  that  federal  laws  were 
enacted  to  establish  a  general  postal  service  for  all  the  people.  Not 
only  were  laws  enacted  for  the  establishment  and  regulation  of  a  mail 
service,  but  by  the  law  of  1845  it  was  clearly  intended  to  make  such 
service  a  government  monopoly.  Section  181  of  the  federal  statutes 
reads  as  follows : 

Whoever  shall  establish  any  private  express  for  the  conveyance  of  letters 
or  packets,  or  in  any  manner  cause  or  provide  for  the  conveyance  of  the  same  by 
regular  trips  or  at  stated  periods  over  any  post  route  which  is  or  may  be  established 
by  law,  or  from  any  city,  town  or  place  between  which  the  mail  is  regularly  carried, 
or  whoever  shall  aid  or  assist  therein,  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  $500,  or  im- 
prisoned not  more  than  six  months,  or  both. 

The  foregoing  makes  it  quite  evident  that,  as  early  as  1845  at 
least,  this  government  of  ours  did  not  intend  or  design  the  service  on 
mail  routes  then  existing,  nor  on  routes  to  be  established,  was  to 
confine  itself  to  the  carriage  and  handling  of  government  matter  only. 
The  establishment  of  rail  post  routes  and  the  greater  facility  and 
speed  with  which  such  routes  would  handle  the  people's  mails — "the 
letters,  packages  and  parcels  of  people  residing  along  such  mail 
routes" — was  one  of  the  stock  arguments  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  promoters  in  1849-50 — an  argument  designed  to  justify 
before  the  people  a  grant  of  land  to  the  chartered  company  so  large 
as  to  make  the  grant  a  colossal  steal.  The  same  or  similar  argument 
was  turned  loose  and  persuasively  paraded  in  the  oratorical  procession 
which  preceded  the  vast  federal  land  grants,  or  land  steals,  in  con- 
nection with  the  building  of  transcontinental  or  Pacific  rail  lines. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  quite  conclusively  that  whatever 
may  or  may  not  have  been  the  "intention"  of  the  government  at  the 
first  establishment  of  a  mail  service — a  service  then  wholly  by  water 
transportation,  by  runners  and  by  a  "Pony  Post"  and  mail  coach — 
a  decision  was  very  soon  reached  to  make  the  postal  service  a  public 
one — a  service  for  all  our  people — and  to  give  the  government  a 
monopoly  of  that  service. 

No  one  reading  the  section  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United 
States  above  quoted  will  attempt  to  controvert  the  statement  last 
made. 

Then,  it  may  be  asked  again,   and  justly,  too,  why  does  the 


228  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

government  continue  to  permit  its  various  departments  to  overload 
and  to  loot  the  postal  service,  the  revenues  for  maintaining  which  the 
people — the  mail-using  portion  of  the  people — alone  contribute? 

It  also  may  be  justly  asked,  why  does  the  government  permit  its 
postoffice  and  other  officials  to  scream  at  the  people  about  "deficits/1 
when  they  have  already  paid  far  more  than  the  service — their  service 
— costs  the  government? 

Other  equally  pertinent  questions  might  be  asked,  but  I  shall 
forbear.  I  have  shown,  I  believe,  that  the  raids  upon  the  postoffice 
revenues  by  free-in-county  matter  and  by  government  itself  would 
more  than  meet  any  "deficit"  yodled  about  in  recent  years. 

That  is  what  I  started  to  demonstrate  in  this  chapter.  But  there 
are  other  raids  and  raiders  upon  the  revenues  of  the  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment to  which  I  must  advert.  I  purposed  in  writing  to  this  phase  of 
our  general  subject,  to  make  official  prattle  about  postal  service 
"deficits"  look  and  sound  foolish. 

I  believe  I  have  already  done  that,  but  in  justice  to  the  subject 
and  to  the  postal  ratepayers,  at  least  three  other  raiders  must  have 
their  cloaks  slit. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

LATEST  OFFICIAL  STYLES  IN  POSTAL  CONVERSATION. 

The  President's  message  of  February  22,  1912,  reached  me  a  few 
hours  after  the  closing  chapters  of  this  volume  had  gone  to  the  print- 
ers. With  it  arrived  a  copy  of  the  Postmaster  General's  report  for 
the  year  ending  June  30,  1911;  also  notice  from  a  Congressman 
friend  that  he  will  have  the  Hughes  Commission's  report  on  the  way 
shortly.  The  Man  on  the  Ladder,  like  Lucy,  when  selecting  her 
spring  bonnet,  desires  the  "very  latest  creation."  It  may  not  be 
essentially  necessary  in  a  discussion  of  Federal  postal  affairs,  but  even 
a  hurried  reading  of  the  President's  message  and  the  report  of  Post- 
master General  Hitchcock  will  furnish  abundant  evidence  that 
expressed  official  opinion  is  somewhat  ephemeral  and  transitory,  like 
the  styles  in  ladies'  headwear.  I  have  never  had  the  pleasure  of 
retaining  a  lady's  unanimous  friendship  for  any  appreciable  length  of 
time  after  giving  her  my  honest  opinion  of  the  style  of  her  most 
recently  acquired  bonnet,  and  readers  who  have  followed  me  thus  far 
in  my  consideration  of  government  postal  affairs  will  have  discovered 
that  my  respect  for  "style"  in  official  oratory  and  literature  needs 
coaching. 

All  that  aside,  however,  the  point  is  that  I  have  persuaded  my 
printers  to  "break  galley"  just  here  and  permit  the  insertion  of  a 
chapter,  having  as  subject  the  "very  latest"  in  official  postal  affairs. 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE. 

In  his  Washington  Day  effort  our  smiling  President  is  profusely 
loyal  to  the  characteristics  of  his  style  in  composition — plumage  and 
displacement.  Mr.  Taft,  however,  should  set  up  no  claims  of  original- 
ity of  design  in  Executive  messages.  Several  of  his  predecessors 
presented  the  people  of  these  United  States  with  numerous  displays 
of  verbal  plumage  and  trimmings.  So  our  President  had  many 
working-models  as  guides  in  building  the  message  upon  which  we  shall 
proceed  to  comment. 

This  message,  both  in  architectural  specification  and  in  contour 
or  ensemble,  is  largely  but  a  re-trim  of  the  "block"  furnished  by  Mr. 

229 


230  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

Hitchcock  in  his  report,  under  date  of  December  1,  1911.  In  con- 
sidering the  President's  message  and  the  report  of  the  Postmaster 
General,  we  may,  then,  shorten  our  task  somewhat  by  treating  the 
two  public  documents  as  one.  They,  of  course,  differ  in  phrasing  and 
wording,  but  the  language  of  the  message  is  only  a  sort  of  Executive 
"Me-too"  approval  of  what  Mr.  Hitchcock  says  in  his  report,  save  on 
one  point — the  taking  over  of  the  telegraph  companies  by  the  govern- 
ment. That  point  we  will  discuss  separately,  presenting  the  argu- 
ment of  the  president  against  the  proposition  and  the  facts  presented 
by  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock: 

"It  gives  me  pleasure  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
revenues  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1911,  amounted  to  $237,- 
879,823.60  and  that  the  expenditures  amounted  to  $237,660,705.48, 
making  a  surplus  of  $2 19,118.12.  For  the  year  ending  June  30,  1 909, 
the  postal  service  was  in  arrears  to  the  extent  of  $17,479,770.47." 

Well,  yes,  certainly.  It  gives  us  all  pleasure  to  see  a  surplus 
grow  where  only  deficits  grew  before — gives  us  great  pleasure.  Still, 
Mr.  President,  you  will  permit  us  humbly  to  say  that  it  has  been  a 
distressful  winter  and  that  here,  the  very  last  of  February,  the 
ground  is  still  frozen  hard.  You,  of  course,  will  recall  that  our 
Postmaster  General,  at  intervals  during  the  last  fiscal  year,  as  oppor- 
tunity for  "interviews"  offered,  gave  us  confident  assurances  that  his 
department  was  harvesting  a  surplus,  ranging  in  amount  from  one  to 
three  million  dollars.  These  assurances  beyond  our  expectations — our 
hopes — led  us  to  an  elevation  which  makes  it  a  far  fall  to  $219,118.12. 
Of  course,  it  is  our  fault.  We  should  not  have  permitted  our  hopes 
and  expectations  to  become  so  altitudinous.  But  Mr.  Hitchcock  has 
a  very  persuasive  delivery  and  the  public  press  quoted  him  so  numer- 
ously and  so  prolixly  that  we  climbed  on  and  on  up — away  above  the 
one  and  some  of  us  well  on  towards  the  three  million  level  and — well, 
as  before  said,  the  ground  being  frozen,  a  drop  to  $220,000  jars  us 
some  considerable  in  alighting.  Mr.  Hitchcock  probably  framed  up 
his  mid-year  interviews  to  fit  observed  conditions,  the  best  he  knew 
how.  Most  of  us  will  soon  be  out  of  the  hospital  and  in  condition  to 
take  an  inflation  for  another  flight.  Some  of  the  less  venturesome 
among  us  may  be  over-careful  not  to  soar  too  high,  but  our  tank 
capacity  remains  about  the  same.  So  the  Postmaster  General  may 
meter  nearly  the  same  amount  of  rhetorical  gas  to  us  without  fear. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  231 

The  President  might,  however,  if  he  thinks  it  would  not  occasion  any 
unseemly  discord  in  rendering  the  grand  symphony  entitled  "Ad- 
ministrative Policy,"  give  us  folks  some  information  on  the  following 
points — points  raised  by  a  reading  of  the  Washington  Day  message 
and  of  the  1911  report  of  the  Postmaster  General,  both  of  which  are 
before  me,  as  I  write.  Of  course  this  is  the  President's  busy  season 
and  he  may  not  be  able  to  devote  as  much  time  to  our  enlightenment 
as  he  would  like  to  and  otherwise  would.  In  that  event,  he  may  turn 
the  subject  over  to  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  request  him  to  separate  himself 
from  a  few  interviews  to  clear  these  matters  up  for  us. 

In  each  annual  report  of  the  Postoffice  Department  I  have  at 
hand  (1907  to  1911  inclusive),  there  appears  an  item  which  reads, 
"Expenditures  on  account  of  previous  years."  For  the  years  indi- 
cated, the  figures  on  this  item  of  expenditures  are  as  follows : 

1907    $    303,045.55 

1908 823,664.64 

1909 586,404.69 

1910 6,786,394.11 

1911 7,132,112.23 

As  figures  are  always  more  or  less  of  a  serious  nature,  we  will 
here  drop  the  personal  element  in  discussing  these  points  on  which 
information  is  desired,  and  much  needed,  if  public  press  notices  can  be 
at  all  depended  upon  as  informative.  Of  course  "figures  do  not  lie." 
Still,  it  is  generally  known  that,  however  truthful  they  may  be  in 
correct  calculations,  they  sometimes  appear  very  peculiar,  if  not 
queer,  in  tabulations.  Some  persons  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to 
assert  that  "official  figures"  have  frequently  been  so  arranged  and 
manipulated  as  to  "conceal  the  facts."  Now,  the  figures  for  that 
item,  "Expenditures  on  account  of  previous  years"  may  conceal  no 
facts  which  the  public  has  any  right  to  know.  Still,  there  is  some- 
thing about  them  which  irritates  one's  bump  of  curiosity;  that  is,  if 
one's  bump  is  not  abnormally  dwarfed  or  stunted.  At  any  rate,  it 
appears  from  press  comment  that  those  figures  have  sand-papered  or 
otherwise  frictioned  several  bumps  of  curiosity  into  a  state  of  irri- 
tation. It  is  the  hope  of  securing  some  official  light  that  will  act 
as  a  linitive  or  demulcent  to  my  own  and  other  bumps  that  persuaded 
those  figures  into  evidence  here. 

What  do  those  figures  mean  ?  Are  they  of  any  real  informative 
value  or  merely  convenient  things  to  have  around  when  building  the 


232  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

sub  and  superstructures  of  a  department  annual  reports,  like  the 
figures  of  the  postal  deficits?  A  glance  at  the  sums  named  in  the 
table  shows  a  variableness  that  amounts  almost  to  a  waywardness  in 
totaling  bills  or  accounts  payable.  The  federal  fiscal  year  ends  June 
30th.  The  annual  reports  of  the  Postoffice  Department  bear  date 
December  1st — full  four  months  after  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year. 
Surely  four  months  is  sufficient  time  to  gather  into  account  the 
bills  payable  or  carried-over  obligations  of  a  previous  year,  is  it  not  ? 
Of  course  the  business  of  the  department  is  a  large  business — over 
$237,000,000  last  year  and  about  $260,000,000  is  asked  for  this  year 
in  the  appropriation  bill  recently  passed  by  the  House.  But  that  is 
no  reason  whatever  for  failure  to  account  for  amounts  ranging  from 
$300,000  to  $6,200,000  of  unpaid  bills  of  the  business  year  in  which  the 
obligations  were  created;  especially  not,  when  publication  of  the 
accounting  is  made  four  months  after  the  close  of  the  year. 

This  item  of  "expenditures  on  account  of  previous  years" 
becomes  no  more  understandable,  if  indeed  it  does  not  become 
more  suggestive  of  purposeful  manipulation,  when  one  looks  over  the 
itemized  or  segregated  expenditures  of  the  year.  The  items  of 
expenditure  are  all  of  the  conventional  character  used  in  business 
accounting — operation  and  maintenance — such  as  service  salaries, 
transportation  of  the  mails,  rents,  light,  fuel,  supplies,  repairs,  etc. 
And  these  are  all  set  down  as  expenditures  of  and  for  the  fiscal  year's 
business  covered  by  the  report,  there  being  not  even  a  suggestion 
that  any  part  or  portion  of  the  total  is  an  expenditure  of  the  previous 
year — of  any  previous  year. 

So  much  for  the  detail  of  expenditures  as  published  in  the  reports. 
From  the  summaries  of  receipts  and  expenditures  one  gathers  no 
additional  light.  In  the  reports  of  the  Third  Assistant  Postmaster 
General  (division  of  accounts),  one  finds  only  the  bald  item,  ''Ex- 
penditures on  accunt  of  previous  years,"  down  to  the  report  of  Third 
Assistant,  James  J.  Britt,  for  the  year  ended  June  30,  1910.  For 
that  year  Mr.  Britt  segregates  the  item  as  follows : 

Services  for  the  fiscal  year,  1909 $6,721,058.52 

Services  for  the  fiscal  year,  1908 53,814  12 

Services  for  the  fiscal  year,  1907 108 . 97 

Claims,  fiscal  year,  1907  and  prior  years 11,605  44 

Claims,  fiscal  year,  1906  and  prior  years 25  00 

Total  for  prior  years $6,786,394  11 


POSTAL  RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  233 

Anyone  taking  the  trouble  to  add  the  five  amounts  given  above, 
will  discover  an  error  of  $217.94  in  the  total.  While  that  error  is  only 
a  trifle,  its  appearance,  however,  in  the  addition  of  but  five  items  is 
not  highly  commendatory  of  the  ability  of  Mr.  Britt's  expert  account- 
ants. The  making  of  such  an  error  in  totaling  only  five  entries  has  a 
tendency  to  arouse  doubt  or  suspicion  as  to  the  reliability  or  dependa- 
bility, not  only  of  the  footings  given  for  the  longer  tabulations  pub- 
lished in  the  report,  but  also  of  the  footings  which  must  necessarily 
have  been  made  to  secure  the  totals  which  are  entered  as  items  in 
such  tabulations.  Be  this  as  it  may,  very  few  persons,  aside  from 
clerks  paid  for  doing  the  work  (and,  possibly,  an  official  or  two  whose 
duty  it  is  or  should  be  to  see  that  the  work  is  done  accurately),  will 
go  to  the  trouble  to  verify  even  the  footings  of  the  published  tabu- 
lations. So  the  errors,  if  any  have  been  made,  are  not  likely  to  be- 
come subject  matter  for  much  adverse  criticism. 

My  purpose  in  presenting  the  showing  of  the  1910  report  on  that 
item  of  "expenditure  on  account  of  previous  years"  is  to  make  the 
statement  that,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  look  up  the  matter,  it  is 
a  first  weak  attempt  to  make  public  in  the  annual  report  the  accounts 
and  claims  carried  over  from  a  previous  year  or  years  and  published 
as  expenditures  of  the  year  to  which  they  are  carried.  I  desire  the 
reader  to  note,  also,  that  of  the  total  of  "expenditures  on  account  of 
previous  years"  ($6,786,612.05  as  above  corrected),  all  but  $65,553.53 
is  set  down  as  expenditures  for  the  year  immediately  prior — for  1909. 

Now,  the  business  of  the  Postoffice  Department  is  a  cash  business 
— wholly  so  in  the  matter  of  receipts  and  nearly  so,  or  should  be,  in 
the  matter  of  expenditures.  This  being  the  case,  that  item  entered  in 
the  published  annual  reports  as  "expenditures  on  account  of  previous 
years"  must  consist  largely  of  payments  made  on  account  of  the  year 
immediately  preceding  the  year  covered  by  the  report.  As  just  shown 
by  the  published  analysis  of  the  item  in  the  1910  report,  the  expen- 
ditures on  account  of  prior  years  other  than  the  one  just  preceding  are 
so  small  (only  $65,553.53  in  a  total  of  $6,786,612.05),  that  they  may 
be  ignored  in  the  attempt  I  am  shortly  to  make,  to  show  that  the  item 
we  have  been  considering — "expenditures  on  account  of  previous 
years" — has  such  dominance  in  the  department's  method  of  account- 
ing, as  evidenced  in  its  annual  reports,  as  to  materially  affect  the 
deficit  or  surplus  showing. 


234  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

First,  however,  I  desire  to  call  attention  to  another  point  or  two 
relating  to  this  item  of  expenditure. 

A  glance  at  the  tabulation  made  of  this  item  shows  a  huge  jump 
in  its  amount  for  the  year  1910  of  $6,200,000,  round  figures.  Next,  it 
appears  that  the  necessities  of  business,  or  the  emergency  needs  of 
those  building  the  report,  forced  this  item  still  upward  in  the  showing 
for  1911  as  made  December  last — upward  by  $345,718.12,  making  its 
total  $7,132,112.23.  In  the  report  before  me,  no  analysis  of  that 
large  carried-over  payment  on  account  of  prior  years  is  given.  The 
Third  Assistant  Postmaster  General  may  furnish  information  as  to  the 
year  or  years  of  its  origin.  His  report  has  not  reached  me  yet,  so  I 
cannot  say.  The  bald  statement  is  there,  however,  that  1911  paid 
over  seven  million  dollars  on  account  of  1910  and  prior  bills.  It  is 
also  in  evidence  that  no  information  whatever  is  published  which 
enlightens  the  public  as  to  the  amount  of  unpaid  1911  bills  that  are 
carried  forward  to  1912  account. 

Whether  adverse  criticism  is  justifiable  or  not,  such  cloaking  of 
accounts  in  giving  them  publicity  most  certainly  warrants  it.  It  is 
just  this  cloaking  that  has  subjected  Mr.  Hitchcock's  little  vest- 
pocket  surplus  for  1911  to  much  and  merited  criticism,  doubt  and 
question.  Mr.  Urban  A.  Waters,  in  testifying  before  the  House 
Committee  on  Civil  Service  Reform  harpooned  the  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment with  an  accusation  that  it  had  permitted  a  million  dollars  to 
waste,  evaporate,  be  misapplied  or  stolen,  in  connection  with  a  deal 
for  sanitary  and  safety  appliances  to  railway  mail  cars. 

If  Mr.  Waters'  charges  are  grounded  in  fact,  then  is  provoked  and 
invited  the  question:  Is  it  designed  or  intended  to  carry  that 
million  into  the  accounting  of  1912 — or  into  that  of  some  future  year 
— as  an  "Expenditure  on  account  of  previous  years?" 

Mr.  Waters  is  publisher  of  the  Denver  Harpoon.  He  can  say 
things  and  is  generally  recognized  as  a  man  who  makes  a  practice  of 
gathering  the  facts  to  back  up  what  he  says  before  he  says  it.  In  his 
testimony,  so  far  as  I  know,  Mr.  Waters  made  no  statement  or  sug- 
gestion that  the  evaporated  million  he  spoke  of  would  be,  or  could  be, 
very  securely  cachetedor  "fenced"  in  this  "account  of  previous  years." 
It  is  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  who  points  out — who  says — that  such 
loose  accounting  as  carries  to  account  of  a  subsequent  year  the 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  235 

expenditures  made  or  incurred  in  a  previous  year  can  very  readily 
be  made  to  cloak  a  steal  of  one  or  more  millions  of  dollars. 

Then,  there  are  those  rural  carriers  who  refused  to  do  as  Mr. 
DeGraw,  Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  told  them  to  do.  You 
read  the  papers  of  course,  and — you  believe  them,  of  course,  though 
most  of  you  say,  "Of  course,  I  don't  believe  'em."  Well,  it  was 
broadly  published  that  the  Rural  Free  Delivery  News  had  the  temerity 
to  publish — not  merely  to  insinuate,  mind  you — that  Mr.  Hitchcock's 
showing  of  a  little  $220,000  surplus  for  the  year  ended  June  30,  1911, 
was  made  possible  only  by  the  failure  of  the  Postoffice  Department 
to  make  a  plain,  valid  charge  of  $7,801,1 49.64  expenditures  for  that 
same  fiscal  year  of  1911! 

Those  are  not  the  exact  words  used  in  giving  publicity  to  the 
asserted  fact  by  the  Rural  Free  Delivery  News,  but  that  is  the  meat  in 
the  nut  the  publication  cracked.  It  appears  that  the  published  state- 
ment was  closely  contiguous  to  the  facts.  At  any  rate,  its  nestling 
juxtaposition  to  the  truth  was  such  that  it  appears  to  have  neither 
looked  nor  listened  well  to  the  department.  There  is  a  presidential 
campaign  on  the  speedway  at  this  time,  with  all  its  usual  concomitants 
of  cackle,  clack,  cluck  and  other  atmospheric  disturbances.  Such  a 
published  truth — if  truth  it  is,  and  it  certainly  displays  a  marked 
resemblance  in  both  form  and  feature  to  that  article  so  extremely 
rare  in  campaign  clutter — the  appearance  of  such  a  truth  on  the 
speedway  has  a  tendency  to  "blanket"  some  candidate  or  jockey  him 
into  the  fence.  With  a  view  no  doubt,  to  guarding  against  such 
possibility,  that  machine  so  much  used  in  recent  years  to  smooth  down 
the  rough  places  in  administration  roadways  was  turned  onto  the 
track.  A  hostile  opposition,  always  somewhat  harsh  and  careless  in 
its  language,  calls  it  "the  steam  roller."  So  the  steam  roller,  with 
Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster  General  DeGraw  at  the  wheel  and  man- 
ipulating the  levers,  rolled  out  among  the  rural  carriers. 

But  it  appears  that  it  did  not  roll  over  them.  There  are  forty- 
odd  thousand  rural  carriers  and,  of  course,  it  would  have  to  be  some 
"steam  roller"  to  mutilate  or  seriously  dent  the  ranks  of  so  numerous 
a  body  of  men ;  especially  of  men  who  travel  about  with  the  fragrance 
of  the  clover  blossom  and  the  corn  bloom  in  their  nostrils.  They 
just  wouldn't  be  rolled  and,  it  is  reported  they  so  informed  Mr. 
DeGraw  in  very  polite  and  easily  understood  language.  They  would 


236  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

not  demand  of  the  publisher  of  their  association  organ  that  he  retract 
and,  to  date,  the  Rural  Free  Delivery  News  has,  so  far  as  I  have  seen, 
has  shown  no  sign  of  either  intention  or  inclination  to  back  away  from 
or  in  any  way  modify  its  charge  which,  in  effect,  was  that  the  showing 
of  a  surplus — of  even  a  little  "runabout"  surplus  of  $220,000  for  the 
fiscal  year  of  1911 — is  a  "faked"  showing — a  showing  made  possible 
only  by  carrying  $7,201,149.64  of  1911  expenditures  over  to  1912 
account. 

May  the  Rural  Free  Delivery  News  live  long  in  the  land  and  flour- 
ish. 

In  a  letter  just  received  from  Mr.  W.  D.  Brown,  editor  of  the 
R.  F.  D.  News,  he  says:  "When  the  Postoffice  Committee  submitted 
its  report  on  March  6,  it  contained  the  statement  that  instead  of  a 
surplus  in  the  postal  revenues  there  was,  up  to  that  time,  a  deficit  of 
more  than  $600,000.00  and  I  am  satisfied  that  the  amount  will  be 
greatly  increased  before  the  end  of  the  current  fiscal  year." 

In  the  News  of  January  27,  the  issue  to  which  Mr.  DeGraw  took 
exception,  Editor  Brown  publishes  a  letter  he  wrote  under  date  of 
January  11,  1912,  to  Mr.  Charles  A.  Kram,  Auditor  of  the  Postoffice 
Department.  He  also  publishes  Mr.  Kram's  reply.  In  comment  on 
the  reply,  Mr.  Brown  says:  "Auditor  Kram's  reply  throws  very 
little  light  upon  the  subject,  except  to  establish  the  fact  that  it  is 
impossible  to  say  at  any  time,  whether  the  Postoifice  Department  is 
being  conducted  at  a  profit  or  a  loss." 

Next  comes  Congressman  Moon,  an  admitted  authority  on  postal 
affairs  and  Chairman  of  the  House  Committee  of  Postoffices  and  Post- 
Roads. 

I  see  by  a  press  notice  that  Mr.  Moon,  in  speaking  to  the  question 
before  his  committee  recently,  stated  that  there  was  a  "deficit  of 
$627,845  for  the  fiscal"  year  of  1911"  in  the  Postoffice  Department, 
instead  of  a  surplus  of  $219,118.12,  as  published  in  its  report,  and  over 
which  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  President  Taft  display  so  much  luxuriant 
jubilation. 

We  have  probably  presented  sufficient  testimony  to  evidence 
the  fact  that  the  figures  presented  by  our  Postoffice  Department  are 
numerously,  if  not  unanimously,  doubted  among  people  who  take 
upon  themselves  the  trouble  and  the  labor  of  looking  into  them. 
True,  the  three  or  four  witnesses  we  have  introduced  do  not  agree 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  237 

as  to  the  amount  or  magnitude  of  the  shortages  or  discrepancies  they 
have  found,  nor  have  they  said,  just  where  in  the  loose,  bungled  ac- 
counting they  found  the  discrepancies.  However,  my  purpose  here 
is  to  show  only  that  publicity  of  such  bungled  accounting  does  not 
enlighten  or  inform  the  public  and  that  the  practice  of  charging  the 
expenditures  of  one  year  to  account  oj  the  next  may  easily  be  made 
to  cloak  and  cover  up  much  wasteful  if,  indeed,  not  dishonest  expendi- 
ture. That  being  the  case,  the  disagreement  of  our  witnesses  as  to 
the  amount  of  dollars  and  cents  they  severally  have  found  to  be 
mislaid,  or  not  properly  accounted  for,  can  make  little  difference  in 
the  conclusion  forced  by  their  testimony  on  any  fair,  inquiring  mind. 

But,  it  may  be  argued  by  apologists  for  such  misleading  practice 
in  accounting  or  by  persons  who  would  plead  extenuating  conditions 
for  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  others  charged  with  administering  federal 
postoffice  affairs,  that  this  loose,  fraud-inviting  practice  is  of  long 
standing,  that  the  present  administration  has  not  had  time  to  correct 
and  remedy  the  faulty  practice  and  that  the  published  showing  of 
current  years  is  correct,  because  it  is  made  on  the  same  basis  as  was 
the  accounting  for  many  previous  years. 

All  very  well  said,  but  it  does  not  answer.  Hoary-headed  age 
in  loose,  falsifying  methods  of  accounting  neither  commands  respect 
nor  can  stand  as  reason  or  excuse  for  continuing  such  methods.  It 
most  certainly  has  no  warrant  as  argument  in  extenuation  for 
the  continuance  of  such  methods  by  the  present  administration. 

"Why?"  Well,  there  are  several  reasons.  Mr.  Hitchcock,  it  ap- 
pears, has  been  aware  for  some  two  years  or  more  that  the  practice  we 
are  here  discussing  was  a  questionable  one,  even  if  he  was  not  fully 
informed  as  to  the  dangers — the  waste,  the  fraud,  the  crookedness — 
which  that  practice  might  easily  be  made  to  cloak.  Yet  he  has  not 
only  continued  the  practice,  but,  it  would  appear  has  further  indulged 
or  encouraged  its  growth.  Let  us  look  at  the  published  evidence 
on  this  point. 

A  reduced  deficit  in  the  showing  of  the  Postoffice  Department 
for  the  year  1910  was  somewhat  evidently  desired.  To  that  end,  the 
practice  we  are  criticising  charges  1910  with  $6,786,394.11  for  ex- 
penditures "on  account  of  previous  years,"  all  of  which,  save  $65,- 
553.53,  as  previously  shown,  were  expenditures  made  on  account  of 
the  year  1909. 


238  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Now,  in  a  footnote  to  page  278  of  the  1910  report,  Third  Assistant 
Postmaster  General  Britt  presents  a  somewhat  confusing,  if  not 
confused  explanation  of  his  showing  of  the  "Revenues  and  expendi- 
tures" for  the  year.  One  statement  in  the  explanation,  however,  is 
resonantly  loud  in  its  clearness. 

"On  the  other  hand,"  says  Mr.  Britt,  "expenditures  made  in  the 
first  three  months  of  the  fiscal  year,  1911  on  account  of  the  fiscal  year 
1910  and  prior  years  are  not  included  in  the  reported  deficit  for  the 
year  1910.  The  amounts  are  approximately  equal." 

I  italicize  that  last  statement.     Let's  see:     1910  was  made  to 
pay  (in  accounting  only,  of  course),  $6,786,394.11  of  1909  and  prior 
expenditures  and,  in  an  exchange,  as  simple  as  swapping  Barlows, 
$7,132,112.23  of  1910  expenditures  are  shunted  onto  the  year  1911 ! 
"The  amounts  are  approximately  equal,"  says  Mr.  Britt. 

Well,  the  difference  is  only  $345,718.12— a  mere  trifle,  of  course, 
in  a  shuffle  of  millions.  But  if  that  trifle  had  been  added  to  the  1910 
expenditures,  where  it  rightly  belonged,  the  1910  deficit  would  have 
shown  up  a  trifle  over  instead  of  a  trifle  under  six  million  dollars,  as 
given  in  the  published  report^-a  very  important  matter  along  in  the 
closing  days  of  1910. 

Then,  too,  when  our  President  and  his  Postmaster  General  so 
warm  up  to  a  surplus  of  $220,000,  it  is  possible,  if  not  probable,  that  a 
trifle  like  $345,000  might  have  been  a  convenience  as  a  deficit  re- 
ducer in  December,  1910. 

On  page  19  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's  report,  he  presents  the  following  as 
one  of  thirty  "Improvements  in  Organization  and  Methods"  accom- 
plished by  the  Postoffice  Department  during  the  year  ended  June  30, 

1911: 

A  change  in  the  financial  system  whereby  the  surplus  receipts  of  postoffices 
throughout  the  country  are  promptly  centralized  at  convenient  points  for  the 
purpose  of  meeting  other  postal  expenditures  incurred  during  the  period  in  which  the 
surplus  receipts  accrued,  thus  paying  the  expenses  of  the  service  from  current 
receipts  and  obviating  the  necessity  of  applying  to  the  Treasury  for  a  grant  to 
meet  an  apparent  deficiency  in  postal  revenues  when,  as  has  happened  in  many 
instances,  no  actual  deficiency  exists. 

Now,  that  is  certainly  an  "improvement"  worthy  of  all  commen- 
dation. If,  as  stated,  it  provides  for  "Meeting  other  postal  expendi- 
tures incurred  during  the  period  in  which  the  surplus  receipts  accrued" 


POSTAL    RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS.  239 

it  certainly  should  prevent  "an  apparent  deficiency   .    .    .   when   .    . 
no  actual  deficiency  exists" 

But  why,  then,  is  it  reported  that  over  $7,000,000  of  expendi- 
tures for  the  year  ended  June  30,  1910,  are  charged  to  the  fiscal  year 
1911?  The  report  bears  date  December  1st,  1911 — four  months 
after  the  fiscal  year  1911  closed.  If  the  receipts  of  postoffices  through- 
out the  country  are  "promptly  centralized"  for  the  purpose  of  meeting 
current  expenditures,  It  would  require  super,  if  indeed  not  supple, 
expertness  in  accounting  to  figure  out  a  surplus  of  $220,000  for  a 
year's  business  which  assumes  over  seven  millions  in  unpaid  bills  of 
a  previous  year  without,  apparently,  knowing  what  amount  of  unpaid 
bills  can  be  shunted  onto  the  next  year. 

But,  it  may  be  argued,  there  is  nothing  inconsistent  in  Mr. 
Hitchcock's  claim  as  just  quoted,  of  an  improvement  in  the  depart- 
ment's system  or  methods  of  accounting  which  makes,  or  should 
make,  unnecessary  the  carrying  over  to  1911  so  large  a  sum  for 
expenditures  made  in  or  an  account  of  the  year  1910.  While  the 
improved  methods  have  been  introduced,  it  may  be  argued  that 
insufficient  time  has  elapsed,  even  to  December  1st,  to  admit  of  their 
application  in  making  up  the  fiscal  report  for  the  year  1911.  In  short, 
that  the  improved  methods  were  introduced  so  late  in  the  fiscal  year 
1910  that  the  resulting  betterments  in  the  system  of  accounting 
could  not  be  shown  in  the  report  for  1910-11. 

Yes,  that  possibly  might  be  of  some  weight  in  considering  this 
claimed  improvement  in  the  accounting  methods  of  the  department. 
There  is,  however,  one  serious  objection  to  its  acceptance  as  evidence 
in  this  case — evidence  in  proof  that  there  was  not  sufficient  time  to 
make  the  improved  methods  operative  in  the  showing  for  the  fiscal 
year  1911: 

(5)  The  adoption  of  improved  methods  of  accounting  by  which  the  surplus 
or  deficiency  in  the  postal  revenues  is  approximately  determined  'within  three 
-weeks  from  the  close  of  each  quarter,  instead  of  three  months  thereafter,  on  the  com- 
pletion of  the  audit  of  postmasters'  accounts. 

(6)  The  adoption  of  an  accounting  plan  that  insures  the  prompt  deposit  in 
the  Treasury  of  postal  funds  not  immediately  required  for  disbursement  at  post- 
offices,  thus  making  available  for  use  by  the  department  several  millions  of  dollars 
that,  under  the  old  practice,  would  be  tied  up  in  post-offices. 

In  his  1909-10  report,  Mr.  Hitchcock  sets  forth  fifty  "improve- 
ments" in  methods  of  handling  and  conducting  the  business  of  the 


240  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Postoffice  Department — improvements  made  prior  to  June  30,  1910, 
mind  you.  Well,  the  foregoing  quotation  presents  numbers  5  and  6 
of  the  enumerated  50  "improvements"  that  were  set  up  as  having 
already  been  instituted — instituted  prior  to  June  30,  1910.  Beyond 
saying  that  the  department  has  certainly  had  ample  time  to  install 
and  make  operative  the  improvements  in  methods  of  handling  its 
business  and  of  accounting,  which  its  published  reports  claim  to  have 
been  made,  comment  is  unnecessary.  If  the  improvements,  as 
twice  claimed  in  the  two  annual  reports  from  which  I  have  quoted  have 
been  made,  then,  it  is  pertinent  to  ask :  Why  was  over  seven  millions 
of  1909-10  expenditures  carried  to  1910-11  account? 

Such  a  showing  excuses  another  question — excuses  it  because  it 
invites  the  question : 

What  amount — how  many  millions  of  dollars — of  1910-11  unpaid 
bills  and  claims  was  carried  over  to  become  a  charge  against  the  fiscal 
year  1911-12? 

Oh,  yes,  I  am  fully  aware  that  this  may  be  all  readily  explained 
by  saying  that  the  claimed  improvements  as  set  forth  have  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  the  practice  of  carrying  forward  unpaid  bills  of 
one  fiscal  year  and  making  them  a  charge  against  the  receipts  of  the 
next  or  some  subsequent  fiscal  year. 

Such  an  explanation  is  easily  understood,  because  it  does  not 
explain.  That  is,  it  is  an  explanation  which,  to  be  believably  under- 
stood, requires  more  explaining  than  do  the  faults  and  crooks  in  the 
method  of  accounting  it  attempts  to  explain. 

That  the  "fumbling"  of  this  carrying-over  practice  needs  cor- 
rection— needs  abolishment — will  be  seen  from  a  glance  at  the  two 
following  tabulations.  That  the  practice  also  makes  the  departments' 
annual  showing  of  the  results  of  the  business  of  the  year — any  year — 
almost  valueless  is  also  made  evident — that  is,  valueless  so  far  as  real, 
dependable  information  is  concerned  as  to  whether  the  postal  service 
is  conducted  at  a  loss  or  at  a  profit. 

The  first  tabulation  following  shows  the  published  figures  for  the 
fiscal  year's  expenses  as  given  in  the  departmental  reports.  It  also 
shows  what  the  expenses  of  the  fiscal  years  indicated  really  were, 
when  their  unpaid  bills  (as  shown  by  the  next  annual  report  of  the 
department)  are  charged  against  them. 

The  whole  charge,  "On  Account  of  Previous  Years"  in  each  report 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  241 

is  treated  as  a  charge  against  the  immediately  preceding  year.  It  has 
been  shown  that  payments  on  "account  of  previous  years,"  as  given 
in  the  published  reports,  include  for  years  other  than  the  first  or 
immediately  preceding,  amounts  so  small  that  they  may  be,  for 
purposes  of  comparison,  ignored.* 

At  any  rate,  the  figures  in  the  following  tabulations  of  ex- 
penditures and  deficits — accepting  the  department's  published  state- 
ments  of  receipts  as  correct — are  far  more  enlightening  to  the  general 
public  as  to  the  results  of  each  year's  business,  for  the  five  years  here 
covered,  than  are  the  statements  made  in  the  annual  reports  of  the 
department  for  the  years  named. 

The  second  table  shows  the  "deficits,"  or  balances  for  each  of  the 
five  years  as  compared  with  the  deficits  shown  in  the  annual  reports 
of  the  department,  the  corrected  figures  being  subject,  of  course,  to  any 
trifling  reduction  which  may  have  resulted  from  the  payment  of  bills 
carried  into  the  account  from  some  other  than  the  immediately  pre- 
ceding year: 

ANNUAL   EXPENDITURES   OF   THE   POSTOFFICE   DEPARTMENT. 

Expenditures  Expenditures 

as  published.  as  corrected. 

1907 $190,238,288.34  ....  $190,758,907.43 

1908 208,351,886.15 208,114,626.20 

1909 221,004,102.89 227,204,092.31 

1910 229,977,224.50 230,322,942.62 

1911 237,648,926.68 230,516,814.45 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  the  corrected  figures 
show  a  range  of  variance  from  the  published  figures,  of  over  $6,400,000 
That  is,  the  corrected  figures  are  some  $230,000  below  for  the  year 
1908  and  more  than  $6,200,000  above  for  the  year  1910,  the  showing 
in  the  departments  published  reports. 

A  similar  correction  for  the  year  1911  cannot  be  made  until  the 
department  chooses  to  enlighten  the  public  as  to  the  amount  of  1910- 
11  unpaid  bills  it  has  carried  forward  to  become  a  charge  against  the 
receipts  of  the  year  1911  -12. 

As  the  account  for  the  year  stands  above,  the  surplus  for  the  year 

*I  find  from  reports  of  the  department  auditor  that  the  fiscal  year  of  1909  was  made 
to  meet  a  charge  of  $128,307.32  which  rightly  stood  against  the  year  1907;  also  that  the  fiscal 
year  1911  is  charged  with  an  expenditure  of  $148,490.01  belonging  to  1909  and  another 
expenditure  of  $85,195.34,  belonging  to  "1908  and  prior  years.'! 


242  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

1910-11  is  $7,363,009.15— not  the  comparatively  trifling  amount  of 
$219,118.12,  as  published.  Of  course,  if  the  report  shows  that  1912 
pays  $7,363,009.15  of  1911  expenditures,  then  the  paltry  surplus  for 
the  last-named  year  may  stand  as  given  in  the  report.  But  if  the  1912 
report  should  show  that  so  much  as  one  dollar  more  of  191 1's  unpaid 
bills  were  shunted  onto  1912  than  1911  paid  on  account  of  1910's 
shunted  bills  ($7,132,112.23),  then  Mr.  Hitchcock's  joy-producing 
"surplus"  will  vanish  as  an  actuality  in  correct  accounting. 

Following  is  the  showing  of  the  deficits  or  balances  as  published, 
as  compared  with  the  actual  deficits  or  balances,  as  corrected  accord- 
ing to  previous  explanation  : 

Deficits  Deficits 

as  published.  as  corrected. 

1907 $  6,653,282.77  $  7,173,901.84 

1908 16,873,222.74  16,635,962.79 

1909 17,441,719.82 23,641,709.24 

1910 5,848,566.88  6,194,285.00 

1911 219,118.12  (Surplus)   . .     7,363,009.15 

There,  again,  is  shown  a  range  of  more  than  $6,400,000  between 
the  published  and  the  very  near  actual  deficits  of  the  several  years, 
not  including  1911,  for  the  showing  on  which,  for  reasons  stated,  I 
and  the  rest  of  the  "dear  people,"  who  are  just  now  being  "worked" 
for  votes,  will  have  to  wait  until  the  1912  report  is  published. 

Why,  nothing  but  a  government  treasury — the  treasury  of  our 
easily  "bubbled"  people — could  survive  that  sort  of  bookkeeping  for 
the  time  covered  in  the  above  tabulated  statement  of  published  and 
actual  yearly  shortages  and  of  one  alleged  surplus. 

AN   EXECUTIVE   OVERSIGHT — POSSIBLY. 

We  will  now  detach  ourselves  from  these  wearisome  figures  and 
more  wearisome  figuring,  using  figures  only  as  a  sort  of  garnishment 
to  chief  courses  served  to  us  by  the  President  and  our  Postmaster 
General. 

The  receipts  of  the  Postoffice  Department,  as  published  in  its 
annual  reports,  were  $34,317,440.53  greater  for  the  fiscal  year  1910-11 
than  for  the  year  1908-9. 

Both  the  President  and  Mr.  Hitchcock  are  eloquently  ebullient 
because  of  the  appearance  of  a  tender  shoot  or  bud  of  a  surplus  in  a 
place  where  nothing  but  deficits  grew  before.  But  neither  of  them 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  243 

appears  to  have  boiled  over  in  either  message  or  report  to  show  the 
people  what  splendid  things  have  been  accomplished  in  two  years 
with  that  thirty-four  millions  of  increased  revenues.  I  wonder  why? 
Possibly  the  failure  of  ebullition  at  the  point  indicated  is  the  result 
of  oversight.  Of  course,  it  may  have  resulted  from  lack  of  thermic 
encouragement  or  inducement.  Or,  it  may  be,  that  some  "induced 
draft"  drew  the  major  part  of  the  thirty-four  millions  up  the  smoke- 
stack without  leaving  a  B.  T.  U.  equivalent  under  the  kettle. 

"The  Postmaster  General  recommends,  as  I  have  done  in  previous 
messages,  the  adoption  of  a  parcels  post,  and  the  beginning  of  this  in 
the  organization  of  such  service  on  rural  routes  and  in  the  city  delivery 
service  first,"  says  President  Taft. 

If  the  President  really  has  recommended  in  "previous  messages" 
the  "beginning"  of  a  parcels  post  "experiment"  in  "the  City  Delivery 
Service"  such  recommendation  entirely  escaped  my  notice.  A  "test" 
of  a  parcels  post  service  on  rural  routes — yes.  That  was  much  talked 
of  a  year  or  more  since.  But  of  an  "experimental  test"  of  an  im- 
proved parcels  post  in  urban  carrier  service,  little  or  nothing  was  said 
or,  if  said,  it  did  not  make  sufficient  noise  for  The  Man  on  the  Ladder 
to  hear.  However,  I  presume  it  is  as  permissible  for  the  conceptions 
and  concepts  of  a  President  to  broaden,  enlarge  and  improve  as  it  is 
for  those  of  a  Postmaster  General  to  broaden,  enlarge  and  improve. 
For  that  matter,  a  proportional,  if  not  entirely  corresponding 
thought-expansion  may  be  occasionally  noticed  in  the  Department 
of  the  Interior  as  conducted  and  operated  by  common,  ordinary  mor- 
tals. 

As  the  parcels  post  is  the  subject  of  a  later  chapter  which 
is  already  in  type,  further  consideration  here  is  unnecessary.  It  may 
be  said,  however,  that  extending  the  proposed  test — any  "test" — of  a 
parcels  post  service  to  city  free  delivery  routes,  instead  of  confining  it 
to  a  few  "selected"  rural  routes  as  Mr.  Hitchcock  proposed  it  should 
be  confined  in  his  1910  report,  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction — a  step 
in  advance.  Still,  such  a  step  is  but  dilatory;  is  but  procrastinating. 
A  cheap,  efficient,  general  parcels  post  service  must  come  and,  now 
that  the  people  are  aroused — aroused  as  to  the  criminal  wrongs 
inflicted  upon  them  by  a  Postoffice  Department  and  a  Congress  that 
have  acted  for  thirty  or  more  years  as  if  indifferent  to  or  not  cognizant 
of  those  wrongs — it  must  come  quickly,  unless,  of  course,  it  should 


244  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

develop  that  the  people  are,  really  and  truly,  as  big  fools  as  railroad, 
express  companies  and  certain  public  officials  have  treated  them  as 
being. 

"The  commission  reports  that  the  evidence  submitted  for  its 
consideration  is  sufficient  to  warrant  a  finding  of  the  approximate 
cost  of  handling  and  transporting  the  several  classes  of  second-class 
mail  known  as  paid-at-the-pound-rate,  free-in-county,  and  transient 
matter,  in  so  far  as  relates  to  the  services  of  transportation-,  postoffice 
cars,  railway  distribution,  rural  delivery,  and  certain  other  items  of 
cost,  but  that  it  is  without  adequate  data  to  determine  the  cost  of  the 
general  postoffice  service  and  also  what  portion  of  the  cost  of 
certain  other  aggregate  services  is  properly  assignable  to  second-class 
mail  matter.  *  *  *  *  It  finds  that  in  the  fiscal  year  1908 

*  *  *  *  the  cost  of  handling  and  transporting  second- 
class  mail  matter  *  *  *  *  was  about  6  cents  a  pound  for 
paid-at-the-pound-rate  matter,  and  for  free-in-county,  and  transient 
matter,  each  approximately  5  cents  a  pound,  and  that  upon  this 
basis,  as  modified  by  subsequent  deductions  in  the  cost  of  railroad 
transportation,  the  cost  of  paid-at-the-pound  rate  matter,  for  the 
services  mentioned"  (I  have  not  mentioned  all  the  " services"  enumer- 
ated by  the  President,  all  being  covered  in  the  words  "handling  and 
transportation"),  "is  approximately  5|  cents  a  pound."  *  *  * 

That  is  from  the  President's  Washington  Day  message.  Can  you 
beat  it?  Well,  it  will  take  a  smooth  road  and  some  going  to  do  it. 

First,  it  is  cheerfully  admitted  that  the  Commission  (the  Hughes 
Commission)  had  no  "adequate  data  to  determine  the  cost  of  the 
general  postoffice  service  and  also  what  portion  of  the  cost  of  certain 
other  aggregate  services  is  properly  assignable  to  second-class  mail 
matter,"  and  then  our  President  proceeds — with  equal  cheerfulness 
and  smiling  confidence  (or  is  it  indifference?)  to  assure  us  that  the 
Commission  proceeded  to  figure  6  cents  a  pound  as  the  cost  of  handling 
and  carriage  of  paid  pound-rate  second-class  matter  and  5  cents  a 
pound  as  the  cost  of  corresponding  service  for  free-in  county  and  so- 
called  "transient"  matter! 

Again  I  ask,  can  you  beat  it?  If  you  can,  please  send  me  your 
picture — full  size  and  two  views,  front  and  profile.  I  would  derive 
much  pleasure  from  a  look  at  your  front  and  side  elevations.  Of 
course,  the  President  has  an  official  right  to  a  "style"  of  his  own. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  245 

A  "style"  of  expression,  however,  cannot  be  protected  by  copyright, 
otherwise,  as  stated  at  the  opening  of  this  interpolated  chapter, 
President  Taft  would  be  guilty  of  infringement.  Other  presidents 
have  run  into  verbose  verbosity  in  expressing  themselves.  It  is  an 
official  convenience  at  times  to  do  so,  however  ludicrously  open  of 
intent  or  "phunny"  it  may  appear  to  laymen. 

The  President,  in  the  paragraph  of  his  message  above  quoted, 
recalls  two  of  his  "arguments"  before  the  Swedish  American  Re- 
publican League,  of  Chicago,  which  arguments  I  had  the  honor  to 
hear.  In  one  instance  he  was  flourishing  about  our  ideal  of  popular 
government  and  said:  "What  we  are  all  struggling  for,  what  we 
all  recognize  as  the  highest  ideal  in  society,  is  equality  of  oppor- 
tunity *  *  *  Of  course  perfect  equality  of  opportunity  is 
impossible,"  then  why  it  is  impossible  followed  for  a  paragraph. 

It  was  so  nicely  and  redundantly  redundant,  so  resilient  in  phras- 
ing, so  honestly  earnest,  that  one  just  had  to  go  along  with  our  Presiv 
dent,  whether  or  not  one  could  see  how  "the  highest  ideal  in  society" 
could  possibly  be  found  in  a  chase  after  the  "impossible." 

At  another  point  in  his  kindly  persuasive  Come-unto-me  dis- 
course, he  pointed  out  to  us  how  liable  a  "majority  of  the  people" 
is  to  "make  mistakes  by  hasty  action  and  lack  of  deliberation." 
Then,  after  a  paragraph  of  beautiful  foliage,  the  President  cited  the 
anti-trust  law  of  1890  as  an  evidence  of  the  advantages  and  beneficent 
results  of  ample  "deliberation"  before  taking  action  in  matters  of 
' '  grave  import" .  He  explained  that  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
was  at  first  "misunderstood,  or  if  not  misunderstood,  was  improperly 
expressed,  so  as  to  discourage  those  who  were  interested  in  the  federal 
power  to  restrain  and  break  up  these  industrial  monopolies.  After 
twenty  years'  litigation  the  meaning  of  the  act  has  been  made  clear  by 
a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  prosecutions  have  been  brought  and 
many  of  the  most  dangerous  trusts  have  been  subjected  to  dissolution." 

It  was  all  so  fine,  so  lulling  if  not  luring !  It  made  one  feel  as  if 
he  were  lost  or  had  gone  to  sleep  looking  for  himself.  But  when  in  a 
comfortable  seat,  in  the  owl  car,  where  the  jostle  of  the  wicked  world 
was  so  toned  down  and  gentled  as  to  permit  a  little  analytic  thought, 
that  beautiful  illustration  of  the  value  of  making  haste  slowly  and  of 
long,  careful  "deliberation"  when  acting  on  matters  of  vast  import 
recurred  to  us — that  Anti-trust  Act. 


246  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

"After  twenty  years"  careful  deliberation,  the  Supreme  Court 
was  able  to  decide  what  the  act  meant!  Was  able,  also,  to  decide 
what  its  own  prior  decisions  meant  and  prosecutions  were  then 
brought  and  "many  of  the  most  dangerous  trusts  have  been  subjected 
to  dissolution!" 

All  of  it  listened  very  well,  but  it  don't  stand  the  wash  very  well. 
It  is  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  during  the  twenty  years  the 
Supreme  Court  was  industriously  trying  to  find  out  what  the  Anti- 
Trust  Act  and  its  own  decisions  meant,  the  trust  organizers  and 
promoters  got  away  with  more  than  eight  billions  of  unearned  values — 
some  set  the  figure  above  fifteen  billions.  The  Supreme  Court  made 
haste  slowly  in  its  "deliberation,"  while  the  respectable  get-rich- 
quick  Wallingfords  were  going  after  the  people's  money  and  going 
in  high-powered  cars  with  the  speed  levers  pulled  clear  down.  No 
making  haste  slowly  or  duly  prolonged  deliberation  with  Wallingfords'. 

Then,  if  one  will  take  the  trouble  to  glance  at  market  quotations 
of  the  stocks  of  any  of  "those  dangerous  trusts"  which  "have  been 
subjected  to  dissolution,"  he  will  find  that  they  have  passed  through 
the  trying  ordeal  of  "dissolution"  without  the  turn  of  a  feather.  All 
are  smiling.  Why  should  they  not?  Stock  quotations  show  that 
Standard  Oil  is  over  $250,000,000  better  off  than  before  its  deliberated 
judicial  dissolution.  The  Tobacco  Wallingfords  are  also  many 
millions  ahead  of  the  game  since  "dissolution"  set  in.  And  "Sugar" 
— well  since  the  Sugar  Trust  was  "busted"  and  subjected  to  the 
"dissolution"  process  nearly  all  its  controlled  saccharine  matter 
appears  to  be  trickling  into  its  bank  account.  Similar  "most  danger- 
ous trusts"  show  similar  evidences  of  "dissolution"  since  the  Supreme 
Court  processed  them. 

What  has  this  to  do  with  our  immediate  subject?  Nothing 
whatever.  It  is  a  mere  interpolation — with  a  purpose.  Its  purpose 
is  to  evidence  what  appears  to  be  a  practiced  habit  with  our  President 
— a  florescence  or  foliation  similar  to  that  displayed  in  the  quotation 
I  have  made  from  his  Washington  Day  Message.  In  the  quoted 
paragraph,  the  reader  will  observe  that  he  first  says  the  Hughes 
Commission  was  "without  data  to  determine  the  cost"  of  certain  very 
important  factors  in  the  aggregate  expense  of  handling  and  transport- 
ing the  mails,  and  then  he  immediately  proceeds  to  inform  us  that  the 
Commission  finds  that  the  "cost  of  handling  and  carriage  of  paid-at- 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  247 

the-pound  rate  matter  was  about  6  cents  a  pound,"  etc. — a  virtual 
impeachment  of  the  Commission's  finding  before  the  finding  is  stated. 

THE   HUGHES   COMMISSION. 

What  little  space  permits  me  to  say  of  the  report  of  the  Hughes 
Commission  may  as  well  be  said  here. 

In  their  report  the  commissioners  very  frankly  admit  the  meager^ 
ness,  or,  on  numerous  important  points,  total  lack  of  informative 
data.  But,  as  the  President  states,  they  proceed  to  put  on  record  a 
finding  of  6  cents  a  pound  as  the  cost  of  handling  and  transporting 
paid  second-class  matter  and  5  cents  a  pound  as  the  cost  of  similar 
service  on  free-in-county  matter,  for  the  year  1908.  They  finally 
recommend,  however,  that  the  present  "transient"  rate  (for  copies 
of  periodicals  mailed  by  other  than  publishers)  be  continued —  1 
cent  for  each  4  ounces ;  also  that  the  present  free  -in-county  privilege 
be  retained,  but  not  extended." 

What  does  that  "not  extended"  mean? 

I  do  not  know.  Do  you  ?  Does  it  mean  that  the  country  news- 
papers now  issued — now  entered  in  Postoffice  Department  for  free 
haulage  and  handling — shall  continue  free  and  that  no  new  news- 
papers established,  founded  and  distributed  in  counties,  shall  be 
transported  and  handled  free? 

If  it  does  not  mean  that,  what  does  it  mean  ?  If  it  means  that, 
then  why  does  this  Commission  recommend  a  thing  that  is  primarily — 
elementary — wrong  under  the  organic  law  of  this  government? 

The  Constitution  of  these  United  States  specifically  prohibits 
"special"  legislation.  Then  why,  I  ask,  should  the  recommendation 
of  this  Commission  be  complied  with?  I  have  been  publishing  The 
Hustler,  a  controlled  Republican  or  Democrat  4  to  8  pager,  as  the  case 
may  be,  for  four  years.  Paul  Jones  comes  along  and  flings  in  his 
money  to  publish  and  print  the  Democratic  Booster  in  the  same 
county.  Does  this  Commission  mean  to  recommend  that  The 
Hustler  be  carried  and  distributed  free  in  the  county  and  that  The 
Booster  be  required  to  pay  the  regular  pound  rate  for  the  same 
service  ? 

A  flat  rate  of  2  cents  per  pound  is  recommended  for  all  other 
periodical  matter,  newspapers  and  magazines  alike. 

Well,  that  recommended  rate  is  of  course,  better  than  Mr.  Hitch- 


248  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

cock's  "rider"  recommendation,  discussed  in  a  previous  page.  The 
Commission's  "finding"  that  the  cost  of  carriage,  handling  and 
delivery  of  second-class  mail  "was  approximately  6  cents  a  pound"  is 
also  an  appreciable  step-down  (toward  the  facts),  as  compared  with 
Mr.  Hitchcock's  assured  —  milled,  screened  and  sifted — finding  that 
said  cost  was  9.23  cents  a  pound — a  finding  as  late  as  March  1,  1911. 
So  if  this  commendable  "merger"  of  views,  opinions  and  guesses  keeps 
growing,  as  industrial,  rail  and  other  mergers  are  wont  to  grow,  the 
postal  rate  payers  of  the  country  may  hope  yet  to  find  that  even  their 
great  men  may  agree. 

I  have  discussed  this  second-class  mail  rate — the  cent-a-pound 
rate  for  periodicals — elsewhere.  With  private  companies  (the  express 
companies)  carrying  and  delivering  second-class  mail  matter  for 
the  average  mail  haul,  at  one-half  cent  a  pound  (and  standing  for  a 
"split"  with  the  railroads  for  one-half  of  that),  the  question  as  to 
whether  or  not  the  government  can  carry  mail  matter  without  loss 
at  one  cent  a  pound,  is  not  worth  debating  among  men  whose  brains 
are  not  worn  in  their  sub-cellars. 

I  mean  the  last  statement  to  apply  to  third  and  fourth  class 
matter  as  well  as  to  second.  What  it  has  cost  the  government,  or 
what  it  now  costs  the  government,  to  transport,  handle  and  distribute 
the  mails  is  another  and  quite  different  matter  from  what  such  service 
can  be  and  should  be  rendered  for.  Was  it  not  that  the  people's 
money  is  lavishly  wasted  by  such  foolishness  and  foolery,  a  dignified 
commission  of  three  or  six  men  sagely  deliberating  upon,  critically 
"investigating"  and  laboredly  discussing  what  it  costs  the  government 
— what  the  government  in  1908  or  any  other  year  paid — to  carry  and 
distribute  the  mails,  might  be  staged  as  the  working  model  of  a  joke. 
If  a  Commission's  time  and  the  people's  money  were  spent  in  making 
a  careful,  thorough  investigation  as  to  what  it  should  cost  to  collect, 
transport,  handle  and  distribute  the  mails,  and  as  to  just  where  and 
how  the  millions  of  dollars,  now  annually  wasted  in  an  over-unmanned, 
incompetently  managed,  raided  and  raiding  service,  could  be  saved, 
results  fully  warranting  the  expenditures  made  on  account  of  these 
postal-investigating  commissions  would  readily  be  obtained. 

A  summary  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Hughes  Commission  is 
presented  elsewhere.  Here  I  shall  take  space  for  only  two  or  three 
observations.  First,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  Commission's  report,  the 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  249 

Postoffice  Department  was  before  it  in  conspicuous  volubility  and  the 
frequency  of  a  stock  ticker  during  a  raid,  with  call  money  at  84. 
Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  and  his  Second  and  Third  Assistants 
appear  to  have  been  the  chief  "floor  representatives"  of  the  depart- 
ment during  the  flurry.  Of  201  "Exhibits'*  listed  by  the  Commission, 
about  100  of  them — reports,  documents,  memoranda  and  letters — 
found  origin  if  not  paternity  in  the  Postoffice  Department,  and  a 
considerable  portion  of  them  was  already  on  file  in  government 
archives.  Of  the  sixteen  papers  submitted  after  close  of  "Hearings," 
fourteen  or  fifteen  are  letters  and  memoranda  of  the  department, 
besides  which  seven  memoranda  are  mentioned  as  having  been 
received  from  "the  Postoffice  Department  and  not  marked  as 
exhibits." 

That  should  make  up  a  pretty  fair  collection  of  departmental 
argument,  views,  opinions  and  "estimates,"  should  it  not?  It  is 
very  doubtful,  though — debatable,  if  not  doubtful — if  the  collection 
is  worth  $50,000.  Especially  does  such  a  valuation  appear  question- 
ably excessive,  when  it  is  observed  that  much  of  the  collection  is  made 
up  of  public  documents,  the  findings  of  former  postal  commissions  and 
committees,  and  of  reports  and  showings  made  up  by  the  Postoffice 
Department  at  departmental  expenditure  of  time  and  money,  and 
not  at  an  expense  chargeable  to  the  Commission's  appropriation.  Of 
course  the  Hughes  Commission  may  not  have  followed  the  precedent 
set  by  most  prior  postal  Commissions,  and  by  commissions  in  general. 
The  Hughes  Commissioners  may  not  have  spent  all  of  their  $50,000 
appropriation.  Let  us  hope  they  did  not.  However,  a  statement  of 
expenditures  actually  made  would  be,  by  some  of  us  at  least,  an 
appreciated  "exhibit." 

Another  feature  of  the  Commission's  108-page  report  that  deserves 
special  attention  is  the  close  adherence  of  its  findings  to  the  findings 
of  present  postal  officials.  Even  in  cases  where  the  opinions  of  past 
officials  are  quoted  commendingly,  the  opinions  usually  support  and 
bolster  the  opinions  of  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  his  assistants.  The  report 
presents  a  number  of  tabulations,  among  which  are  several  that  are 
most  excellent  and  informative.  However,  the  tabulations,  and  the 
more  important  conclusions  of  the  text  as  well,  are  based  upon 
"estimates,"  rather  than  upon  ascertained  facts.  Then,  too,  these 
estimates,  as  is  somewhat  annoyingly  evident,  are  all,  or  nearly  all, 


250  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

the  departmental  estimates  of  the  present  Administration.  Of  course, 
that  should  in  no  way  impair  their  value  or  dependability  and  it 
probably  would  not,  but  for  two  facts:  The  present  Postmaster 
General  has,  for  two  years  or  more,  displayed  great  activity — at 
times,  a  fevered  if  not  frenzied  activity — to  secure  the  enactment 
of  laws  and  issuance  of  executive  orders  to  accomplish  results 
which,  while  they  may  appear  most  desirable  to  him,  were  considered 
by  many  thousands  of  our  people  as  being  very  objectionable,  indeed, 
inimical  to  the  fundamental  right  of  free  speech  in  this  country  and  a 
menace  to  a  free  press  and  to  popular  education.  The  "estimates" 
which  the  Hughes  Commission  has  published  as  basis  for  its  find- 
ings quite  uniformely,  if  not  entirely,  support  the  contentions  which 
the  Postmaster  General  has  been  making — at  times,  making  with 
little  or  no  warrant  of  fact  to  support. 

Again,  it  will  be  observed  by  careful  readers  of  the  Commission's 
report  that  the  "estimates"  upon  which  several  of  its  more  important 
findings  are  based,  are  conspicuously  lacking  in  elements  essentially 
necessary  in  the  structure  of  reliable  estimates  from  which  fact  or 
facts  may  be  deduced.  To  warrant  the  drawing  of  conclusions  of 
fact  from  it,  the  structural  material  of  an  estimate  must  consist 
largely,  if  not  wholly,  of  fact,  not  of  conclusions  drawn  from  other 
conclusions  which,  in  turn  were  deduced  from  estimates  based  on 
other  estimates  that  may  or  may  not  have  been  accurate  and  de- 
pendable. 

As  just  stated,  the  estimates  which  the  Commission  appears 
largely  to  have  accepted,  are  nearly  all  productions  of  the  Postoffice 
Department.  Few  of  them  are  built  directly  upon  ascertained  facts. 
Most  of  them  are  estimates  of  estimates  based  on  other  estimates. 
It  appears  that  the  Postmaster  General's  estimates  are  Assistant 
Postmaster  Generals'  estimates  of  the  estimates  made  by  weighing 
clerks  of  the  several  classes  of  mail-weights  carried  by  certain  rail- 
roads during  six  months  in  the  year  1908.  The  nearest  approach 
such  a  method  or  procedure  makes  to  a  fact  is  an  estimate  of  the  fact, 
you  see. 

A  POSTAL  TELEGRAPH. 

One  more  quotation  from  the  President's  message  and  this 
chapter  may  end.  This  quotation  is  anent  the  proposition  of  having 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  251 

the  telegraph  service  of  the  country  operated  by  the  government — 
in  connection  with  the  postal  service.  Mr.  Hitchcock's  recommenda- 
tion in  the  matter  of  a  postal  telegraph  "is  the  only  one,"  says  the 
President,  "in  which  I  cannot  concur."  I  shall  first  quote  President 
Taft  and  then  quote  Mr.  Hitchcock  as  he  expressed  himself  in  his 
1911  report: 

This  presents  a  question  of  government  ownership  of  public  utilities  which 
are  now  being  conducted  by  private  enterprise  under  franchiess  from  the  govern- 
ment I  believe  that  the  true  principle  is  that  private  enterprise  should  be  per- 
mitted to  carry  on  such  public  utilities  under  due  regulation  as  to  rates  by  proper 
authority  rather  than  that  the  government  should  itself  conduct  them.  This 
principle  I  favor  because  I  do  not  think  it  in  accordance  with  the  best  public 
policy  thus  greatly  to  increase  the  body  of  public  servants.  Of  course,  if  it  could 
be  shown  that  telegraph  service  could  be  furnished  to  the  public  at  a  less  price  than  it  is 
now  furnished  to  the  public  by  telegraph  companies,  and  with  equal  efficiency,  the 
argument  might  be  a  strong  one  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  the  proposition.  But 
I  am  not  satisfied  from  any  evidence  that  if  these  properties  were  taken  over  by  the 
government  they  could  be  managed  any  more  economically  or  any  more  efficiently 
or  that  this  would  enable  the  government  to  furnish  service  at  any  smaller  rate 
than  the  public  are  now  required  to  pay  by  private  companies. 

More  than  this,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  consideration  of  the  question  ought  to 
be  postponed  until  after  the  postal  savings  banks  have  come  into  complete  and  smooth 
operation  and  after  a  parcels  post  has  been  established  not  only  upon  the  rural  routes 
and  the  city  deliveries,  but  also  throughout  the  department.  It  will  take  some  time 
to  perfect  these  additions  to  the  activities  of  the  Postoffice  Department  and  we  may  well 
await  their  complete  and  successful  adoption  before  we  take  on  a  new  burden  in 
this  very  extended  department. 

As  an  exhibition  of  rhetorical  aviation,  that  is  both  going  and 
soaring  some.  How  beautifully  it  "banks"  on  the  curves!  How 
smooth  its  motor  runs !  And  its  transmission !  Words  fail  me. 

Some  paragraphing  wit  has  said,  "Foolishness  is  as  plentiful  as 
wisdom  isn't."  Our  President  appears  to  know  that  we  fools  can 
take  in  a  lot  of  foolishness  without  our  tanks  sloshing  over  as  we  stum- 
ble along  the  old,  well-worn  way — the  way  that  leadeth  the  earned 
dollar  into  somebody's  unearned  bank  account.  But  I  do  not  intend 
to  comment.  The  italics  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  mix  into  the 
President's  verbal  flight  is  all  the  comment  needed.  Mr.  Taft  makes 
it  quite  clear  that  all  we  fools  need  to  do  is  wait — make  haste  slowly, 
take  time  for  due  deliberation.  Of  course,  some  of  us  fools  think  we 
know,  or  presume  to  think  we  know,  that  the  telegraph  companies  are 
charging  us  two  or  three  prices  for  the  service  they  render — frequent- 


252  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

ly,  do  not  render  for  twenty-four  or  more  hours  after  it  ceases  to  be 
a  service.  But  think  of  the  good  other  folks  derive  from  the  pocket 
change  they  extract  from  us!  The  Western  Union  is,  or  was,  a 
"Gould  property."  It  paid  interest  or  dividends  on  eighty  or  more 
millions  of  quasi  and  aqua  pura  in  stocks  and  bonds.  But  think  of 
the  fun  sons  George  and  Howard  had !  Think  of  the  former  main- 
taining the  beautiful  Lakewood  place,  leasing  English  hunting 
preserves,  playing  polo  and  "busting"  into,  through  and  around 
Knickerbocker  society  circles!  How  could  Howard  have  built  a 
replica  of  Kilkenny  Castle  on  Long  Island  Sound,  where  he  and 
"Wild  West  Katie,"  it  is  said,  spent  millions  and  had  a  realistic 
Kilkenny-Cat  time  of  it?  Or  how  could  Frank,  the  fourth  and  last 
son  of  Jay  Gould,  have  given  to  the  world  such  a  lurid,  if  not  illumi- 
nating, picture  of  the  "Married  Rue"  as  was  exhibited  at  his  divorce 
hearings?  And  there  is  "Sister  Anna" — Well,  it  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  Anna  Gould  could  not  have  blown  away  ten  millions  in  settling 
"Powder-Puff  "  Boni's  debts  and  turning  him  loose  in  the  straight 
and  broad  way  which  leadeth  unto  the  life  that  is  somewhat  too  "fast" 
for  even  unearned  money  . 

Well,  none  of  the  before-mentioned  "life  lessons"  could  have 
been  set  for  the  world's  enlightenment — likewise,  disgust — had  the 
people  of  this  country  not  waited,  not  made  haste  slowly,  in  "due 
deliberation,"  while  the  Western  Union  and  other  "Gould  properties," 
were  used  to  separate  them  from  many  millions  of  dollars  which  no 
Gould  or  Gould  property  ever  earned. 

But  this  is  digressing.  The  President  advises  us  to  wait,  to 
delay  action  a  little  longer — until  the  "postal  savings  banks  have 
come  into  complete  and  smooth  operation,"  until  "after  a  parcels 
post  has  been  established  *  *  *  throughout  the  depart- 
ment." Just  wait  and  keep  on  paying  twenty-five  cents  for  a  ten- 
word  wire  to  your  mother  or  friend  ten  miles  out,  even  though  the 
veriest  fool  knows  that  a  postal  telegraph  service  would  carry  a 
twenty-five  word  message  to  any  postoffice  in  the  United  States  for 
ten  cents.  Just  keep  on  waiting — until  the  big  telegraph  interests 
have  sheared  a  few  millions  more  fleece. 

But,  says  President  Taft,  "If  it  could  be  shown  that  telegraph 
service  could  be  furnished  to  the  public  at  a  less  price,"  etc.,  etc. 

Well,  maybe  there  is  a  sort  of  visual  aphasia  which  makes  a 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  253 

quarter  look  like  ten  cents  to  some  men.  If  not,  I  am  at  a  loss  to 
understand  how  it  yet  remains  for  anyone  to  be  "shown"  that  tele- 
graph service  could  be  furnished  to  "the  public  at  a  less  price  than  it 
is  now  furnished  by  the  telegraph  companies."  Postmaster  General 
Hitchcock  furnished  sufficient  information,  it  seems  to  me,  to  show 
the  President,  or  anyone  else  for  that  matter,  that  telegraph  service 
"could  be  furnished  the  public"  at  rates  much  below  those  the  tele- 
graph companies  collect.  Mr.  Hitchcock  speaks  in  part,  as  follows- 
page  14,  1911  report: 

The  telegraph  lines  in  the  United  States  should  be  made  a  part  of  the  postal 
system  and  operated  in  Conjunction  with  the  mail  service.  Such  a  consolidation 
would  unquestionably  result  in  important  economies  and  permit  the  adoption  of 
lower  telegraph  rates.  Postoffices  are  maintained  in  numerous  places  not  reached 
by  the  telegraph  systems  and  the  proposed  consolidation  would  therefore  afford 
a  favorable  opportunity  for  the  wide  extension  of  telegraph  facilities.  In  many 
small  towns  where  the  telegraph  companies  have  offices,  the  telegraph  and  mail 
business  could  be  readily  handled  by  the  same  employees.  The  separate  main- 
tenance of  the  two  services  under  present  conditions  results  in  a  needless  expense. 
In  practically  all  the  European  countries,  including  Great  Britain,  Germany, 
France,  Russia,  Austria,  and  Italy,  the  telegraph  is  being  operated  under  govern- 
ment control  as  a  part  of  the  postal  system.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  first  tele- 
graph in  the  United  States  was  also  operated  for  several  years,  from  1844  to  1847, 
by  the  government  under  authority  from  Congress,  and  there  seems  to  be  good 
ground  why  the  government  control  should  be  resumed. 

While  much  more  could  be  said  in  support  of  Mr.  Hitchcock's 
position,  he  has  said  sufficient  in  the  above,  I  think,  to  "show"  even 
a  President. 

As  evidence  that  the  "estimates,"  upon  which  the  Hughes  Com- 
mission so  largely  base  their  findings  are  not  entirely  dependable. 
I  desire  to  make  two  brief  quotations  from  other  pages  of  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock's 1911  report.  On  page  17,  as  the  'first  of  thirty  "Improvements 
in  Organization  and  Methods,"  the  Postmasters  General  sets  forth  as 
having  been  accomplished  in  the  service  during  the  fiscal  year  1911, 
will  be  found  this : 

The  successful  completion  of  an  inquiry  into  the  cost  to  railway  companies 
of  carrying  the  mails  and  the  submission  of  a  report  to  Congress  making  recom- 
mendations for  revising  the  manner  of  fixing  rates  of  pay  for  railway  mail  trans- 
portation. 

On  pages  9  and  10  of  the  report,  in  discussing  a  readjustment  of 
railway  mail  pay,  Mr.  Hitchcock  uses  the  following  language : 

The  statistics  obtained  during  the  course  of  the  investigation,  disclosed  for 


254  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

the  first  time  the  cost  of  carrying  the  mails  in  comparison  with  the  revenues  derived 
by  the  railways  from  this  service.  *  *  *  *  The  new  plan  (paying 
railways  on  the  basis  of  car  space  occupied  by  the  mails),  if  authorized  by  Con- 
gress, will  require  the  railway  companies  each  year  to  report  what  it  costs  them  to 
carry  the  mails  and  such  other  information  as  -will  enable  the  department  to  deter- 
mine the  cost  of  mail  transportation. 

From  the  above  it  would  seem  that  Congress  was  to  be  asked  to 
adopt  at  its  present  session  a  "new  plan"  which  "will  enable  the 
department  to  determine  the  cost  of  mail  transportation;"  to  deter- 
mine an  important  service  fact  which,  according  to  the  preceding 
quotation  and  also  to  the  first  sentence  of  the  one  just  made,  was 
determined  sometime  prior  to  June  30,  1911. 

Has  the  Postomce  Department  already  determined  the  facts  as 
the  report  twice  claims,  or  has  it  merely  collected  some  data  upon 
which  to  base  an  "estimate?"  Which  enables  it  to  make  a  more 
or  less  reasonable  guess  at  the  cost  of  mail  transportation  ? 


CHAPTER  XII, 

RAILWAY    AND    EXPRESS    RAIDERS. 

I  intended  to  take  up  here  the  railway  mail-pay  and  postal  car 
rental  steal  and  then  the  infringement  by  express  companies  on  the 
postal  service  and  its  revenues.  However,  since  I  have  quoted  Sec- 
tion 181  of  the  federal  statutes  governing,  I  think  it  as  well,  or  better, 
here  to  take  notice  of  the  express  companies'  raiding  into  the  postal 
revenues — raidings  into  the  field  of  service  which  the  law  specifically- 
reserved  for  the  operation  of  the  nation's  Postoffice  Department. 

Let  me  ask  the  reader  to  turn  back  a  few  pages  and  read  again 
that  Section  181  of  the  federal  statutes.  Let  me  ask  him  also  to 
think  a  moment  about  the  character  of  small  parcels  and  packages 
the  express  companies  carry.  To  help  our  memories  a  little,  let  us 
note  a  few  items. 

The  express  companies  carry  and  deliver  for  the  general  public 
money  remittance  for  any  sum.  For  carrying  sealed  remittance  of  a 
hundred  dollars  or  less — for  the  carriage  and  delivery  of  which  the 
government  has  provided  in  its  postal  money  order  regulations — the 
express  companies  are  criminals  under  that  Section  181. 

Had  the  express  company  "influence"  not  reached  federal  legis- 
lators, it  is  not  only  highly  probable,  but  almost  a  certainty,  that  our 
postal  service  would  today  be  both  prepared  and  permitted  to  trans- 
mit and  deliver  sums  of  money  to  any  amount  and  at  rates  lower  than 
now  charged  by  the  express  companies. 

If  a  publisher  has  ten  or  a  hundred  thousand  copies  of  a  book  to 
deliver  to  mail-order  purchasers,  some  express  company  steps  in  and 
makes  him  an  offer  for  delivery,  a  trifle  lower  than  the  8-cent-a -pound 
rate  charged  by  the  Postoffice  Department  for  the  same  service. 

In  such  instance,  the  express  company  making  such  tender  of 
delivery  on  any  "post  route"  is  a  criminal,  under  the  specific  wording 
of  that  Section  181. 

In  previous  pages  of  this  volume  the  reader  will  find  testimony 
of  people  and  of  firms  that  pay  large  carriage  bills  for  second-class 
matter.  Among  this  testimony  are  found  statements  (some  of  them 
under  jurat),  that  the  express  companies  carry  periodicals  in  bulk  of 

255 


256  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

five  to  ten  pounds  and  upward  from  New  York  to  Chicago,  and  to 
other,  points  equally  distant  from  office  of  publication,  at  a  rate 
materially  below  the  cent-a-pound  rate  charged  by  the  government 
for  postal  carriage. 

In  one  instance,  it  is  known  that  one  express  company  has  offered 
to  contract  to  carry  periodicals  from  New  York  to  Chicago  over  a 
certain  connecting  railroad  at  a  rate  of  one-half  cent  a  pound. 

What  does  that  mean? 

It  means  simply  this : — The  railroad  handling  such  express  busi- 
ness hauls  express  cars  en  train  with  the  United  States  mail,  and  the 
railroad  handling  such  express  consignments  of  periodical  mail  matter 
makes  the  New  York-Chicago  haul  at  somewhere  around  one-fourth 
of  a  cent  a  pound.  That  is,  it  is  somewhere  around  one-fourth  cent  a 
pound  unless  the  carrying  road  takes  more  than  half  the  express 
company's  contract  charge. 

"What  more?" 

The  express  company  contracting  such  business  and  the  railroad 
handling  it  are  criminals  under  that  Section  181  of  the  federal  statutes. 

In  this  connection  I  wish  to  say  that  under  a  strict — yes,  under 
a  just — construction  of  that  Section  181,  I  am  not  sure  but  that  the 
publishers  party  to  such  contracts  are  not  also  parties  to  the  crime. 

From  the  letter  of  that  section,  I  confess  an  inability  to  see  any 
other  construction  of  it  than  that  previously  stated.  The  United 
States  government,  or  at  least  its  legislative  department,  in  1845, 
intended  that  all  such  matter — letters  (sealed  matter),  "packets," 
or  packages  and  parcels,  should  be  turned  over  to  the  Postoffice 
Department  for  transportation,  handling  and  delivery. 

Why  has  not  the  intent  of  that  law  been  carried  out  ? 

Why  are  the  express  companies  permitted,  and  for  years  been 
permitted,  so  brazenly  to  perpetrate  criminal  violations  of  that  postal 
statute  ?  Why  and  how  does  it  chance  that  they  (the  express  com- 
panies), can  violate  the  law  for  years  and  go  unscathed — go 
unchastized  for  plain,  open,  brazen  violation  of  that  Section  181 
of  the  federal  statutes?  Yes,  why? 

There  is  but  one  answer ;  there  can  be  but  one  answer. 

Federal  executives,  federal  legislators  and  federal  judicial 
officials  have  connived  with  private  individuals  and  interests  to  nullify 
or  make  abortive  that  Section  181. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  257 

Have  you  ever  read  any  of  Allan  A.  Benson's  writings?  "No?" 
Then  you  have  missed  something  you  should  never  miss  again,  should 
opportunity  perambulate  around  your  way.  Allan  A.  Benson  says 
something  when  he  writes — says  it  blunt,  plain  and  hard — says  it  in 
language  that  guarantees  its  own  truth — says  it  in  an  open,  broad 
way  in  which  no  man,  "even  though  a  fool"  or  a  joy-rider,  can  go 
astray.  In  both  the  February  and  the  March,  1911,  numbers  of 
Pearson's  Magazine,  Mr.  Benson  writes  on  the  parcels  post  as  a  sub- 
ject. I  shall  probably  quote  from  him  extendedly  when  I  reach  that 
division  of  our  general  subject  in  this  volume.  Mr.  Benson  knows 
his  subject.  And  what  is  didactically  of  more  importance,  he  makes 
the  reader  know  he  knows  it. 

Well,  even  with  a  fear  that  I  may  here  reprint  from  him  some 
paragraphs  for  which  I  may  have  a  greater  need  later,  I  cannot  refrain 
from  quoting  him  in  answer  to  those  several  "whys"  I  have  just 
written,  anent  the  violations  of  that  Section  181  of  the  postal  statutes. 

Following  his  quotation  of  that  section  of  the  federal  statutes, 
Mr.  Benson  says: 

The  purpose  of  this  law  was  to  give  the  United  States  government  a  mon- 
opoly of  the  mail-carrying  privilege.  The  law  was  first  enacted  in  1845,  and, 
although  the  statutes  have  been  revised  from  time  to  time,  it  stands  to-day  in 
precisely  the  form  herein  given. 

On  the  face  of  the  law  the  express  companies  are  law-breakers.  But  it  is 
not  enough  to  look  at  the  face  of  a  law.  Everybody  except  the  government  is 
prohibited  from  carrying  letters  and  packets — but  what  are  "packets?"  A  letter 
is  a  letter ;  but  what  is  a  packet  ? 

Foolish  question?  Yes,  it  ought  to  be — but  it  isn't.  The  whole  express 
business  rests  upon  the  answer  to  this  question.  When  the  law  was  enacted,  there 
was  no  doubt  about  the  meaning  of  the  word  packet,  because  there  were  no  express 
companies  to  raise  the  question,  and  everybody  knew  that  packet  was  a  synonym, 
used  more  frequently  then  than  now,  for  "parcel."  Express  companies  did  not 
come  along  to  raise  the  question  until  forty  years  ago. 

Even  the  express  companies,  when  they  began  business,  had  no  doubt  about 
the  meaning  of  the  word  "packet."  This  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  whenever 
they  handled  packets,  they  required  shippers  to  affix  postage  stamps.  But 
recognition  of  the  government's  mail  monopoly  had  a  strong  tendency  to  curtail 
express  business,  and  there  came  a  time  when  the  express  companies  decided  to 
evade  the  law,  leave  off  the  stamps  and  openly  compete  with  the  government. 

See  how  ridiculous  the  express  companies  have  since  made  your  government. 
In  1883,  a  mail  carrier  who  had  stolen  tea  from  a  packet,  made  the  defense  at  his 
trial  that  since  a  packet  of  tea  was  neither  a  letter  nor  a  parcel,  the  law  which 
prohibited  tampering  with  sealed  letters  or  parcels  could  not  be  invoked  against 


258  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

him.  United  States  Judge  McCreary,  who  sat  in  the  case,  was  not  so  minded. 
He  told  the  jury  to  disregard  the  prisoner's  defense.  In  other  words,  a  package 
was  not  only  a  parcel,  but  presumably  a  packet.  The  judge  split  no  hairs  about 
definitions.  The  mail  carrier  had  stolen  tea.  That  was  enough.  He  was  sent 
to  prison. 

See  how  another  judge,  years  later,  construed  "packet."  Nathan  B. 
Williams,  of  Fayetteville,  Ark.,  brought  suit  in  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  to 
prevent  express  companies  from  carrying  packets.  When  the  last  judge  had  had 
his  guess  about  the  conundrum,  Mr.  Williams  was  judicially  informed  that  the 
government  mail  monopoly,  so  far  as  packets  are  concerned,  extends  only  to 
"packets  of  letters,"  In  other  words,  a  packet  is  a  packet  of  letters;  that  and 
nothing  more.  Here  are  the  judge's  words: 

"While  Congress  has  full  constitutional  powers  to  reserve  to  the  postal 
department  a  monopoly  of  the  business  of  receiving,  transporting  and  delivering 
mails,  and,  in  the  exercise  of  such  rights,  may  enact  such  laws,  regulations  and 
rules  as  will  effectively  preserve  its  monopoly,  yet  this  monopoly  is  intended  (see 
the  Judge  read  the  mind  of  the  Congress  of  1845),  to  extend  only  to  letters, 
packets  of  letters,  and  the  like  mailable  matter,  and  Congress  has  never  attempted 
to  extend  this  monopoly  to  the  transportation  of  merchandise  in  parcels  weighing 
less  than  four  pounds,  nor  to  prohibit  express  companies  from  making  regular 
trips  over  established  post  routes,  or  from  engaging  in  the  business  of  carrying 
such  parcels  for  hire." 

That  is  what  the  court  says — and  what  the  court  says  goes.  Here  is  what 
the  present  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States  says — and  what  the  Attorney 
General  says  does  not  go.  The  Receivers'  and  Shippers'  Association  of  Cincinnati 
asked  the  Attorney  General  to  join  in  Mr  Williams'  suit,  which  the  Attorney 
General  declined  to  do  for  this  reason: 

"The  department  has  made  a  very  complete  study  of  the  proposition  and 
agrees  with  Mr.  Williams  upon  the  law,  except  as  to  the  one  point,  namely, 
that  there  has  been  an  administrative  construction  against  the  proposition  jar  over 
forty  years,  and  the  chances  are  that  a  suit  will  be  defeated  on  that  ground." 

In  other  words  while  the  Attorney  General  believes  the  express  companies 
have  been  and  are  violating  the  law,  the  post  office  department,  for  forty  years, 
has  let  them  do  tt,  and  it  seems  useless  to  try  to  enforce  the  law. 

Here,  then,  is  the  absurd  situation  with  regard  to  packets  into  which  the 
express  companies  have  forced  the  United  States  government: 

If  a  packet  contains  tea,  and  a  mail  carrier  steals  some  of  it,  it  is  a  packet 
without  doubt,  and  the  mail  carrier  is  sent  to  prison. 

If  an  express  company  carries  a  packet  of  tea,  the  packet  is  not  a  packet, 
because  a  packet  is  only  a  packet  of  letters. 

But  a  mail  carrier  will  find  out  rather  quickly,  whether  a  packet  of  tea  weigh- 
ing less  than  four  pounds,  is  a  packet  or  not,  if  he  carry  the  packet  for  his  own 
profit  instead  of  turning  over  to  the  government  the  amount  of  the  postage  Let 
the  fact  become  known  -to  the  government,  and  he  will  be  arrested  as  quickly  as 
an  officer  can  reach  him. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  259 

Now:  Is  or  is  not  this  juggling  with  the  law?  If  it  is  not  juggling  with  the 
law,  what,  in  your  opinion,  would  be  juggling  with  the  law?  If  the  foregoing 
decisions  sound  like  good  law  to  you,  perhaps  you  ought  to  be  upon  the  federal 
bench.  You  might  shine  as  a  judge.  You  don't  shine  as  a  voter.  You  think, 
but  you  don't  act.  You  don't  put  your  thought  behind  your  ballot.  You  let 
somebody  else  put  his  thought  behind  your  ballot. 

That  is  pretty  plain  talk — talk  which  should  do  us  readers  some 
good.  It  should,  at  least,  enlighten  us  as  to  these  facts. 

First:  The  express  companies  have  been  criminally  trenching 
upon  and  into  the  service  of  the  Postoffice  Department  for  forty  years 
or  more — have  been  raiding  what  were  originally  intended  to  be  the 
legitimate  and  legally  protected  revenues  of  that  department. 

Second:  Such  raidings  have  been  winked  at  by  our  federal 
legislators  and  condoned,  and  the  raiders  exonerated  by  juridic 
opinions  which  were  so  bald,  bare,  brazen  and  cheap  that  they  would 
make  a  practiced  confidence  or  get-rich-quick  man  blush. 

I  intended  to  write  further  here  about  this  raid  of  the  express 
companies  on  postal  reveneus,  but  have  concluded  to  defer  much  of 
what  I  intended  to  say  in  handling  this  phase  of  our  general  subject  to 
the  closing  division  of  this  volume — the  parcels  post.  One  reason  for 
doing  so  is  that  today  it  is  not  the  express  companies  which  command 
and  direct  the  raidings  that  express  business  is  making,  and  for  some 
years  has  made,  into  what  rightly  and  legally  should  be  the  field  of 
postal  revenue  gathering.  Twenty  years  ago,  a  trifle  more  or  less, 
when  John  Wanamaker  was  Postmaster  General,  he  stated  to  a 
committee  or  delegation  calling  on  him,  that  there  were  four  insu- 
perable objections  to  the  establishment  of  a  parcels  post  at  that  time. 
He  named  the  four  objections.  They  were,  if  I  remember  rightly, 
"The  Adams  Express  Company,  the  American  Express  Company,  the 
Wells -Fargo  Express  Company  and  the  United  States  Express 
Company."  It  may  be  he  named  the  Southern  or  some  other  express 
company  instead  of  the  United  States  Express  Company.  I  cannot 
remember.  At  any  rate  he  named  four  express  companies  as  the 
"insuperable  objections"  to  the  establishment  of  a  parcels  post. 

Well,  he  was  right  for  the  period  in  which  he  spoke.  But  twenty 
years  is  a  long  time  in  a  swift,  governmentally  aided  get-rich-quick 
age  or  country  like  ours.  There  are  some  dozen  or  more  ex- 
press companies  now — a  dozen  or  more  on  paper — quasi-express 
companies. 


260  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

The  railroad  companies  and  railroad  officials  control  the  express 
companies  and  the  express  business  of  this  country  today. 

A  departmental  report  of  the  government  showed,  as  stated  in 
the  Saturday  Evening  Post  of  May  27,  1911,  "that  the  four  principal 
express  companies  have  thirty-seven  directors,  of  whom  thirty-two 
are  residents  of  New  York,  two  are  residents  of  Chicago  and  three  of 
San  Francisco.  These  express  directors  are  also  directors  in  twenty-five 
of  the  leading  railroad  systems  of  the  United  States." 

So,  today,  if  Mr.  Wanamaker  were  inclined  to  do  so,  he  would 
probably  revise  his  statement  of  twenty  or  more  years  ago.  He  would 
probably  say  that  the  railroads  of  this  country  stood  as  the  insuperable 
objection  or  obstruction  to  the  establishment  and  operation  of  an 
efficient,  cheap  and  serviceable  parcels  post — the  failure  or  neglect 
to  do  which  is  running  one  of  the  greatest  raids  into  postal  revenues 
this  or  any  other  nation  has  ever  known. 

Mr.  Albert  W.  At  wood  in  writing  to  this  point  under  the  general 
caption  "The  Great  Express  Companies,"  in  the  American  Magazine, 
February,  1911,  issue,  says: 

Perhaps  you  have  thought  of  all  this  before,  but  do  you  also  know  that  the 
six  largest  express  companies  are  among  our  greatest  bankers?  With  them,  in  one 
year,  the  public  has  deposited  $352,590,814  and  their  transactions  in  money 
orders,  travelers'  checks,  letters  of  credit  and  bills  of  exchange  rival  those  of  the 
most  powerful  banks.  This  business,  unlike  any  other  form  of  banking  is  under 
no  governmental  jurisdiction  and  goes  untaxed.  It  is  made  possible  only  by 
using  the  machinery  of  the  regular  banks,  although  to  these  the  express  com- 
panies pay  no  revenue.  In  the  money-order  line,  express  companies  compete 
with  the  postoffice  and  do  about  one-third  as  much  business  as  the  government. 
The  American  Express  alone  has  handled  nearly  17,000,000  money 
orders  in  one  year.  That  the  public  has  confidence  in  the  safety  of  the  express 
companies  as  banks  admits  of  no  doubt,  and  it  has  been  credibly  reported  that  in 
the  panic  of  1907  money  was  withdrawn  from  banks,  which  the  people  did  not 
trust,  and  invested  in  express  money  orders. 

Transportation  in  a  multitude  of  forms  and  branch  banking  do  not  com- 
prise the  sum  total  of  express  activities.  The  surplus  funds  of  these  huge  institu- 
tions have  grown  large  enough  to  require  constant  investment,  and  the  express 
companies  form  a  close  second  to  the  savings  banks  and  insurance  companies 
as  the  most  dependable,  regular  and  important  class  of  investors  in  railroad 
securities.  Diversified  as  the  functions  of  the  express  companies  have  become, 
success  has  more  than  kept  pace  with  their  extension  into  varied  fields,  and  a 
keen,  wideawake  public  interest  in  the  express  business  is  demanded,  not  alone  by 
the  public  and  necessary  character  of  the  business  itself,  but  still  more  by  the 
extraordinary  return  which  the  companies  receive  for  service  performed. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  261 

Six  companies  control  more  than  90%  of  the  country's  express  business, 
and  of  these  the  Adams  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  powerful.  Organized  more 
than  fifty-six  years  ago,  its  capital  stock  had  grown  to  $10,000,000  by  1866,  in 
which  year  the  members  of  the  association,  as  the  shareholders  are  called,  received 
a  stock  dividend  of  $2,000,000.  The  $10,000,000  of  stock  itself  did  not  represent 
shares  issued  for  cash.  According  to  the  company's  own  reports,  no  shares  were 
ever  issued  for  cash.  The  100,000  shares  were  given  to  members  of  the  associa- 
tion to  represent  each  member's  pro  rata  ownership  in  the  assets  which  had 
accumulated  from  earnings.  As  late  as  1890,  according  to  the  census  figures,  the 
company  had  an  actual  investment  in  property  employed  in  its  business  of  but 
$1,128,195.  Yet  it  had  been  paying  8%  dividends  for  many  years,  or  80%  on  the 
actual  value  of  the  property  in  use.  In  1898  it  distributed  $12,000,000  of  its 
own  bonds  to  stockholders,  these  bonds  to  be  secured  by  the  deposit  in  trust  of 
the  surplus  funds  not  used  in  the  express  business.  At  this  time  the  company 
reduced  its  dividend  rate  to  4%,  but  as  4%  was  also  paid  on  the  bonds,  the 
stockholders  did  not  suffer  any  loss  of  income.  By  1904  the  dividend  rate  had 
mounted  to  10%,  the  bond  interest  remaining  at  4%.  In  1907,  $24,000,000 
additional  bonds  were  given  to  the  stockholders,  likewise  secured  by  another  fat 
surplus,  and  like  the  first  issue,  paying  4%  in  interest.  Dividends  on  the  stock 
have  since  been  maintained  at  12%  and  there  has  grown  up  another  surplus  of 
nearly  $25,000,000  which  must  soon  be  disbursed.  Meanwhile  the  property 
actually  employed  for  express  purposes  has  grown  to  but  something  more  than 
$6,000,000. 

Moreover,  there  is  another  large  fund  slowly  but  surely  accumulating  in 
connection  with  the  1907  bond  distribution.  This  1907  gift  to  the  shareholders 
was  in  the  form  of  a  bond  issue  secured  by  the  deposit  of  stocks  and  bonds  of 
other  corporations  formerly  owned  by  the  company  itself.  The  deed  of  trust 
provides  that  if  the  income  from  these  stocks  and  bonds  is  more  than  enough  to 
pay  interest  of  4%  a  year  on  the  $24,000,000  of  Adams  Express  bonds,  the  surplus 
shall  accure  and  be  distributed  in  1947  among  the  holders  of  the  Adams  Express 
bonds.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  is  a  computed  excess  income  derived  in  this  way 
of  $151,517.50  a  year  and  by  1947  this  will  have  mounted  up  to  more  than  $6,000,- 
000,  not  allowing  for  compound  interest.  Here  is  a  50%  extra  dividend  being 
nourished  along  toward  maturity.  If  there  is  any  better  example  of  being  able 
to  eat  one's  cake  and  have  it  too,  I  have  yet  to  hear  of  it. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war  the  Adams  Express  Company  turned  its 
routes  in  the  Southern  States,  in  which  it  had  enjoyed  a  complete  monopoly, 
over  to  the  Adams-Southern  Express  Company,  created  by  the  Georgia  courts  for  the 
purpose  of  assuming  this  business.  The  property  of  the  association  was  to  be 
represented  by  5,000  shares,  of  which  558  were  then  issued.  The  Adams  Express 
Company  has  held  to  the  present  day  a  dominant  interest  in  this  association, 
which  it  created  to  facilitate  business  during  the  war.  After  hostilities  ceased,  it 
resumed  some  of  its  Southern  routes  by  agreement  with  the  A.da.ms-Southern 
Express  Company,  whose  name  had  meanwhile  been  changed  to  the  Southern 


262  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

Express  Co.  The  two  companies  still  work  in  common  and  use  the  same  wagons 
and  offices  in  many  places. 

But  close  as  the  Southern  Express  is  to  its  parent  company,  it  has  a  separate 
enough  existence  to  justify  a  separate  account  of  its  money-making  capabilities. 
Referring  to  the  original  558  shares  of  stock,  the  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
Southern  Express  says:  "None  of  the  original  twenty-four  stockholders  are  living 
and  there  is  no  existing  record  to  show  how  much  was  realized  from  the  distribution." 
This  does  not  help  us  much,  but  in  another  report  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  the  company  appears  to  know  what  these  records  showed,  for  it  says 
"none  of  its  stock  was  ever  issued  for  real  property,  equipment,  acquisition  of  se- 
curities, or  for  any  other  purpose  in  the  sense  in  which  the  issuance  of  stock  is 
understood  in  connection  with  corporations."  But  we  do  find  that  in  1866  the 
number  of  shares  was  increased  to  30,000  and  distributed  to  the  owners  as  a 
stock  dividend.  Plainly,  the  civil  war  did  not  impoverish  the  express  carriers. 
Then  in  1886  enough  more  new  stock  was  created  to  give  the  owners  five  shares  in 
place  of  every  three  which  they  already  held,  so  that  there  are  now  50,000  shares. 

Five  hundred  and  fifty-eight  shares  of  stock,  the  circumstances  of  whose 
issue  are  known  to  no  one  living,  have  sprouted  into  50,000  shares  by  the  mere 
process  of  paying  stock  dividends.  Dividends  of  8%,  or  $400,000  a  year,  are  now 
paid  upon  the  50,000  shares,  although  the  entire  value  of  the  company's  property, 
real  estate,  buildings,  equipment,  furniture,  etc.,  was  only  $944,179  on  June  30, 
1909.  Here  are  dividends  of  8%  on  $5,000,000  stock,  or  more  than  40%  on  the 
value  of  the  property  employed  in  the  business.  And  this  is  not  all.  The  South- 
ern Express  Company  owns  high-grade  stocks  and  bonds  valued  at  almost 
$4,000,000,  which  may  some  fine  day  form  the  basis  of  another  melon. 

If  the  Adams  Express  Company  and  its  Southern  associate  were  the  only 
ones  to  shower  their  members  with  unheard-of  profits  we  might  be  inclined  to 
think  they  had  been  visited  with  peculiar  and  exceptional  good  fortune.  Such 
is  far  from  being  the  case.  Let  us  proceed  alphabetically  and  see  how  the  mem- 
bers of  the  American  Express  Company  have  fared. 

The  Adams  and  American  are  easily  the  two  most  important  of  the  express 
companies,  and  control,  or  have  controlled  at  various  times,  all  the  other  im- 
portant companies  with  the  exception  of  the  Pacific.  Since  1868  the  capital  of 
the  American  has  stood  at  $18,000,000,  this  stock  having  been  issued  in  exchange 
for  the  shares  of  the  original  American  Express  Company  and  the  Merchants' 
Union  Express  Company,  under  articles  of  merger  and  association  dated  Novem- 
ber 25,  1868.  The  company's  books  show  that  $5,300,000  "was  the  value  of  the 
assets  taken  over  at  that  time.  There  was  $183,819  in  cash;  $1,261,023  in  se- 
curities; $2,200,300  in  real  estate,  less  a  mortgage  of  $505,143;  and  $1,260,000  in 
equipment;  making  a  total  of  $4,400,000.  New  stock  was  sold  which  realized 
$900,000  in  cash,  making  a  total  of  $5,300,000  in  assets  for  the  $18,000,000  of 
stock.  No  new  stock  has  been  issued  since  1868  and  no  further  cash  has  been  paid 
into  the  treasury  except  from  earnings. 

From  its  own  balance  sheet  we  find  the  company  now  has  less  than  $10,000,- 
000  in  real  property  and  equipment,  all  of  which  does  not  represent  property 


POSTAL    RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS.  263 

employed  in  the  service,  because  the  item  "real  property"  includes  real  estate 
investments. 

With  an  original  investment  in  cash  and  property  of  but  one-third  the  par 
value  of  its  capital  stock,  the  American  Express  Company  now  pays  dividends  on 
this  stock  of  12%  a  year  and  for  many  years  paid  6,  8  and  10%.  Moreover,  it  has 
accumulated  from  its  earnings  a  fund  of  more  than  $20,000,000  which  is  invested  in 
readily  negotiable  stocks  and  bonds,  the  yearly  income  on  which  amounted  to 
$1,178,000  in  1909.  Among  these  securities  are  such  high-grade  railroad  stocks 
as  Chicago  and  Northwestern,  Northern  Pacific,  New  Haven,  New  York  Central 
and  Union  Pacific. 

Six  years  ago  (1904-5),  the  substantial  assets  of  the  American  Express 
Company  had  grown  from  $5,300,000,  the  amount  fixed  in  the  articles  of  associa- 
tion, to  six  times  that  amount.  These  assets,  let  me  repeat,  did  not  represent  new 
capital  put  into  the  business,  for  none  whatever  was  put  in,  but  were  accumula- 
tions of  earnings  over  and  above  funds  required  to  carry  on  the  business  and  pay 
dividends  of  8%  upon  $18,000,000  of  stock.  Even  the  association's  own  share- 
holders failed  to  see  the  need  of  such  a  treasure  and  in  1906  a  committee  repre- 
senting them  addressed  the  officers  of  the  company  thus:  "It  is  evident  the 
management  lias  faith  in  its  ability  to  conserve  the  vast  fund  so  accumulated  beyond 

»the  needs  of  the  business,  without  wasting  the  same  or  embarking  it  in  new  and 
dangerous  ventures,  and  while  we  personally  neither  criticise  them  nor  express  any 
want  of  confidence  in  them,  still  it  is  our  opinion,  and  that  of  many  representative 
holders  of  long  standing,  experience  and  means,  that  this  immense  fund  should  not  be 
further  rapidly  increased  to  become  a  source  of  temptation  to  the  possible  weakness  or 
a  snare  to  the  possible  inexperience  of  their  successors." 

I  would  like  to  quote  further  from  both  Mr.  Benson  and  Mr.  At- 
wood.  The  former  writes  two  articles  which  appeared  in  Pearson's 
Magazine  in  February  and  March,  1911,  clearly  showing  not  only 
why  we  have  no  parcels  post,  but,  to  some  extent,  the  raid  which  the 
express  companies  have  made  and  are  making  on  postal  service 
revenues  that  rightfully  and  legally  should  accrue  to  the  government. 
The  latter,  Mr.  Atwood,  speaks  in  three  splendid  articles  in  the 

I  American  Magazine  (February,  March  and  April),  under  the  caption, 
"The  Great  Express  Monopoly."  Each  of  the  gentlemen  handles  his 
subject  masterfully.  Each  of  them  set  forth  facts  which  every 
American  citizen  should  know  and,  knowing,  should  go  after  every 
public  official  who  has  ignorantly  permitted  or  knowingly  condoned, 
aided  or  cloaked  the  criminal  raiding  into  the  legitimate  field  of  the 
postal  service  and  revenues.  Every  one  who  can  should  get  hold 
rf  and  read  the  five  articles  referred  to.  I  shall  probably  quote 
further  from  them  in  the  closing  division  of  this  volume,  but  to 
ippreciate  them  fully  one  should  read  them  entire  and  connectedly, 


264  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Sufficient  has  here  been  said,  however,  to  show  any  fairminded 
reader  that  our  express  companies,  or  the  railways  which  use  the 
express  companies  merely  as  pinch-bars  to  pry  into  our  postal  reve- 
nues on  the  one  hand  and  as  cloaks  for  excessive  rates  to  the  general 
public  for  handling  light  or  parcels  freight  on  the  other,  are  illegally 
taking  millions  of  dollars  annually  for  a  service  which  should  be,  and 
which  was  originally  intended  to  be,  rendered  by  the  Postoffice  De- 
partment. 

I  say  that  the  express  companies,  or  the  railroads  over  which  they 
operate  and  which,  today,  virtually  own  and  control  them,  are  doing 
an  illegal  business — a  business  carried  on  in  flat  contravention  and 
defiance  of  the  plain  letter  of  the  federal  statutes. 

I  say  further :  The  contravention  of  law  which  makes  this  vast 
lootage — steal — possible  has  no  other  basis  for  its  past  and  present 
raiding  of  the  field  of  postal  revenues  than  corrupted  federal  legis- 
lators and,  either  corrupted  or  loose  screwed,  juridic  opinions  which 
are  permitted  to  stand  in  place  of  the  plainly  worded  statute  of  1845. 

And  there  is  a  colossal  irony  in  the  brazen  effrontery  with  which 
this  raiding  of  the  postal  revenues  by  the  express  companies  has  been, 
and  is,  carried  on. 

On  the  one  hand,  we  have  public  officials  cackling  about  its  costing 
the  government  4  to  9  cents  a  pound  to  transport  and  handle  second- 
class  mail  matter — rather,  making  voluble  and  voluminous  guesses 
that  it  costs  from  4  to  9  cents  a  pound — while  on  the  other  hand,  the 
express  companies  enter  into  contracts  with  publishers  to  carry  and 
deliver  at  line  stations  that  same  second-class  matter  at  one-half 
cent  a  pound. 

When  it  is  remembeerd  that  the  express  companies  must  "split" 
with  the  transporting  railroad  to  the  extent  of  40  to  63  per  cent  of 
their  gross  haulage  and  delivery  charge,  the  talk  of  its  costing  the 
government  4  to  9  cents  to  do  what  the  express  companies  do  for  a 
half -cent — in  some  cases  possibly,  for  less  even  than  that — passes 
from  the  domain  of  irony  and  becomes  disgusting  twaddle. 

The  postal  rate  for  carrying  merchandise  parcels  not  exceeding 
four  pounds  is  16  cents  a  pound.  That  rate  is,  as  previously  stated, 
outrageously  high  and  the  maximum  weight  of  four  pounds  is  almost 
as  outrageously  low.  Both  the  postal  weight  and  rate  have  been 
held  for  years  at  the  figures  named,  it  has  been  numerously  asserted 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  265 

and  is  generally  believed,  by  the  "influence"  of  express  company  and 
railroad  lobbying  in  Congress.  The  result  is  that  by  far  the  larger 
portion  of  light  or  parcels  shipments  go  by  express  instead  of  by  mail, 
as  it  was  clearly  intended  in  the  law  of  1845  they  should  go. 

To  get  this  business,  the  express  companies  cut  under  the 
government  charge  of  16  cents  a  pound,  as  they  can  both  easily  and 
profitably  do. 

Nor  do  they  hold  the  shipper  to  a  maximum  of  four  pounds  for 
any  single  package  or  parcel.  In  fact,  they  set  up  practically  no 
maximum  parcels  weight,  and  they  deliver  at  any  postoffice  or  station 
along  their  lines  of  service.  In  fact,  again,  the  express  companies 
now  have,  it  is  asserted,  a  sort  of  compensating  agreement  by  which 
the  company  collecting  the  business  can  have  another  company  make 
deliveries,  each  company  taking  its  prorated  share  of  the  profit  on 
the  carriage  and  handling  of  the  parcel  or  consignment. 

Such  arrangement,  it  will  readily  be  seen,  enables  the  express 
company  to  accept  package  consignments  for  delivery  at  almost  any 
point  in  the  country,  if  on  a  railroad,  or  for  delivery  at  some  rail  point 
near  the  addressed  destination  of  the  parcel. 

Then,  too,  as  Mr.  Benson  points  out,  the  railroads  and  railroad 
officials  and  owners  are  also  controlling  owners  of  the  express  com- 
panies. Being  so,  they  do  not  hesitate  virtually  to  "club"  the  public 
into  shipping  its  parcels  freight  by  express.  They  do  this  by  fixing  a 
minimum  weight  in  their  freight  tariffs.  That  minimum  is  100 
pounds.  That  is,  it  will  cost  the  shipper  as  much  to  send  a  four  or 
ten  pound  package  to  destination  by  fast  freight  as  it  would  cost  him 
to  send  100  pounds. 

The  foregoing  is  sufficient  to  show  the  reader  that  the  express 
companies  are  permitted  to  raid  the  legitimate  business  of  the  Post- 
office  Department — or  what  should  be  and,  under  the  law,  was 
intended  to  be  the  business  of  the  Postoffice  Department. 

The  express  companies,  or  their  railroad  control — which  amounts 
to  the  same  thing — also  forage  the  field  of  third-class  matter  which, 
by  law,  was  made  a  preserve  of  the  Postoffice  Department. 

The  postal  rate  for  third-class  mail  matter  is  eight  cents  per 
pound.  That  rate  is,  of  course,  away  too  high.  With  The  Man  on 
the  Ladder  the  conviction  remains,  as  it  has  been  a  conviction  for 
twenty  or  more  years,  that  the  postal  rate  of  eight  cents  per  pound 


266  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

for  thiid-class  matter  is  three  times  what  that  rate  should  be— easily 
double  the  charge  that  should  be  made  to  cover  the  legitimate  cost  to 
the  government  for  handling  it,  which  cost  is  all  that  the  department 
should  seek  or  be  permitted  to  collect. 

Trusting  that  the  reader  will  find  excuse  for  me,  I  desire  to  repeat 
here  what,  in  substance,  I  have  written  into  an  earlier  page : 

The  postal  service  of  the  nation  should  not  be  made  a  revenue- 
producing  service,  any  more  than  the  War,  Navy,  Interior,  Justice  or 
other  departments  of  the  federal  service  should  be  made  revenue- 
producers. 

If  the  people  pay — have  paid  and  are  willing  to  pay — the  actual 
cost  of  an  efficient,  honestly  administered  and  managed  postal  service, 
that  is  all  they  should  be  asked  or  expected  to  pay. 

But  returning  to  the  express  companies'  raidings  into  the  post- 
office  revenues,  let  me  here  assert  what  every  observant  citizen  of 
intelligence  knows:  The  express  companies  are  today  carrying 
millions  of  pounds  of  books — leather,  cloth  and  paper  bound  books — 
at  a  rate  for  carriage  and  delivery  materially  below  the  government's 
excessive  rate  of  eight  cents  a  pound. 

These  same  express  companies  are  today  carrying  thousands  of 
tons  of  catalogues,  pamphlets,  business,  political  and  other  circulars, 
color  prints  of  apparel  fabrics,  etc.,  etc.,  which  the  Postoffice  Depart^ 
ment  ought  to  handle — and,  under  the  law,  should  handle,  and,  but  for 
that  extortionate  rate  of  eight  cents  a  pound  would  handle. 

It  has  been  repeatedly  asserted  by  persons  who  are  familiar  with 
carriage  and  handling  costs,  both  in  the  postal  and  private  service, 
that  the  postal  rate  of  8  cents  a  pound  for  third-class  mail  matter  has 
been  maintained — and  is  maintained — by  reason  of  corrupt  and 
corrupting  influences  (the  coat-pocket  "dropped  roll,"  the  "job" 
bribe,  the  "deposit  slip,"  etc.,  etc.),  which  express  and  railway  inter- 
ests have  liberally  exerted  upon  federal  legislators  and  upon  executive 
and  judicial  officeholders — exerted  upon  "public  servants." 

However,  that  may  be,  the  facts  today  are  that  the  postal  service 
rate  of  8  cents  a  pound  for  third-class  matter  is  so  excessive — so 
conspicuously  above  the  cost  of  the  service  rendered — that  the  ex- 
press companies  find  no  difficulty  in  under-cutting  it — in  many 
cases,  more  than  cutting  it  in  half — and  still  reap  millions  of  profit 
from  the  handling  of  such  matter. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  267 

If  a  publisher  has  an  edition  of  five,  ten  or  one  hundred  thousand 
of  a  book  to  be  delivered  in  piece,  or  single  copies,  an  express  company 
representative  will  see  him  at  once — often  see  him  before  the  book  is 
from  the  press.  If  the  publisher  is  doing  a  large  and  general  business 
in  book  publishing  or  the  book  trade,  the  express  companies  have 
already  seen  him,  by  representative,  and  a  carriage  and  handling 
charge  agreed  upon,  under  which  the  contracting  or  agreeing  express 
company  will  handle  any  or  all  the  publisher's  books,  both  single 
copies  and  trade  shipments,  at  a  rate  much  below  the  government's 
postage  rate  of  eight  cents  a  pound. 

If  a  publisher  brings  out  a  book  which  weighs,  when  wrapped  or 
jacketed  for  mailing,  say  one  pound  on  which  the  mailing  charge 
would  be  8  cents,  the  express  company  tenders  a  rate  of  7  cents.  If 
the  edition  of  the  book  is  a  large  one  the  express  company  will  tender 
a  rate  of  6  cents  or  even  a  rate  as  low  as  5  cents  or  4  cents. 

In  performing  such  service  the  express  company  is  a  violator  of 
law — a  brazen  outlaw.  Yet  the  government  not  only  permits  this  out- 
lawry, but,  by  maintaining  that  excessive  rate  of  8  cents  a  pound,  the 
government  virtually  invites  it. 

What  I  have  above  said  applies  with  equal  or  even  greater  force 
to  the  transportation  and  distribution  of  mercantile  and  other  cata- 
logues, and  of  descriptive  pamphlets,  etc.  However,  I  think  suffi- 
cient has  been  said  to  cover  the  point  raised. 

The  government  persists  in  charging  a  third-class  rate  which 
virtually  drives  thousands  of  tons  of  third-class  matter  to  the  express 
companies.  The  express  companies  handle  this  vast  tonnage  at  a 
cost  charge  to  the  sender  or  shipper,  ranging  from  16  2-3  per  cent  to 
50  per  cent  below  the  government's  mail  rate. 

The  express  companies  roll  up  millions — many  millions — of 
profits  every  year,  while  at  the  higher  rate,  the  government  officials 
(some  of  them),  slash  up  the  ambient  with  rapier  verbiage  about 
"deficits"  and  make  extension-ladder  guesses  at  what  it  "actually 
costs"  the  Postoffice  Department  to  carry  and  handle  a  pound  of  third, 
or  some  other,  class  of  mail  matter. 

Another  raid  upon  the  postal  revenues — and  the  raid  is  by  the 
oldest  gang  of  looters  in  the  game — or  graft — is  the  railroads. 

For  lo,  these  many  years,  the  railroads  have  carried  the  mails 
at  a  carriage  charge  of  $21.37  a  ton  per  annum  per  line  mile  of  haul.* 
*  5,000  to  48,000  pounds,  $20.30  per  ton.  Above  48,000  pounds,  $19.24  per  ton. 


268 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 


That  is  $21.37  is  allowed  on  "dense"  traffic  lines  where  the  daily 
mail  weight  is  above  5,000  pounds.  On  lines  where  the  daily  weight 
is  5,000  Ibs.,  the  rate  is  $171.00  per  annum  per  line  mile  of  haul.  For 
mail  weights  less  than  5,000  pounds  the  rate  of  pay  varies,  the  ton- 
mile  rate  increasing  from  21.37  cents  for  a  weight  above  5,000  pounds, 
to  $1.17  per  ton-mile  for  an  average  weight  of  200  pounds. 

Following  are  tabulations  showing  the  scale  of  mail  pay  and  also 
the  post  office  car  rental  pay.  I  get  them  from  the  Wolcott  Com- 
mission report  made  in  1901.  The  tables  and  accompanying  para- 
graphs form  part  of  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Marshall  M.  Kirkman,  who 
at  the  time  of  the  Wolcott  Commission  hearings  was  Second  Vice- 
President  of  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway.  The  rates  of 
pay  may  have  been  modified  in  some  slight  degree  since  1901.  If  so, 
I  have  not  learned  of  the  fact.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  figures 
given  by  Mr.  Kirkman  still  govern  as  rates  of  mail  pay  and  car 
rentals,  and  as  Mr.  Kirkman  was  speaking  for  the  railroads  the  reader 
may  depend  upon  it  that  the  case  of  the  railroads — especially  of  the 
.Chicago  and  Northwestern,  then  a  system  of  about  5,000  miles  of 
trackage — was  presented  in  as  favorable  a  light  as  the  governing 
facts  would  permit : 

RATES   BASED   ON  THE   WEIGHT   OF  THE   MAILS.    [a.£ 


Present 

Present 

Present 

Average  daily  weight  of  mails  over  whole 

pay  per 

rate  per 

rate  per 

route. 

mile  per 

ton  per 

hundred 

annum. 

mile,  b 

pounds  per 

mile.c 

Cents 

200  pounds  

$42  75 

$1  170 

5.85 

500  pounds 

64  12 

.700 

3.50 

1,000  pounds  

85.50 

.468 

2.34 

2  000  pounds                             ,  .    . 

128  25 

.351 

1.75 

4  000  pounds 

156.46 

.214 

1.07 

5,000  pounds  

171.00 

.187 

.96 

Each  2,000  pounds  in  excess  of  5,000  pounds  . 

21.37 

058 

29 

aLand  grant  roads  receive  but  80  per  cent  of  these  rates. 

ftThis  is  the  rate  received  for  carrying  each  ton  handled  1  mile,  and  is  ob- 
tained by  dividing  the  yearly  compensation  by  365  and  then  dividing  the  daily 
compensation  thus  obtained  by  the  number  of  tons  carried  1  mile  each  day. 

cThis  rate  was  obtained  in  the  same  manner  as  the  ton-mile  rate. 


POSTAL   RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS. 


269 


The  most  striking  feature  of  this  table  is  the  rapid  decline  in  the  rates  paid 
with  an  increase  of  Weight. 

In  addition  to  the  above  payments  based  upon  weight  there  is  an  additional 
allowance  when  full-sized  postoffice  cars  are  provided,  the  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment deciding  when  these  are  necessary.  The  rates  of  pay  for  these  cars  are  as 
follows : 

RATES  ALLOWABLE     FOR    FULL-SIZED    POSTOFFICE    CARS.       (o) 


Rate  per 

Rate  per 

mile  of 

mile  run 

Length  of  car. 

track  per 

by  cars. 

annum. 

Cents. 

40  feet 

$25  00 

3  424 

45  feet 

27  50 

3  786 

50  feet               

32  50 

4  471 

55  to  60  feet 

40  00 

5  498 

aBy  full-sized  cars  is  meant  cars  40  feet  or  more  in  length  and  wholly  devoted 
to  mail. 

The  first  column,  which  shows  the  rate  paid  per  mile  of  track  per  annum,  is 
likely  to  be  misunderstood.  The  compensation  seems  very  liberal,  and  it  would 
be  so  in  fact  if  it  were  as  large  as  it  appears  to  be.  To  gain  $25  per  mile  per  an- 
num a  40-foot  car  must  make  a  round  trip  over  each  mile  of  road  per  day.  If  it 
only  makes  one  trip  over  the  road  each  day,  it  will  earn  but  $12.50  per  mile  per 
annum,  as  it  would  be  but  half  of  what  is  known  as  a  line.  The  statute  reads : 

"That  *  *  *  pay  may  be  allowed  for  every  line  comprising  a  daily 
trip  each  way  of  railway  postoffice  cars,  at  a  rate  not  exceeding  twenty-five  dollars 
per  mile  per  annum  for  cars  forty  feet  in  length.  *  *  *  " 

Let  us  here  take  note  what  the  foregoing  tabulated  figures  mean — 
figures  which  Mr.  Kirkman  argued,  if  I  read  his  testimony  correctly, 
are  too  low*.  I  have  read  the  testimnoy  of  numerous  other  railroad 
representatives,  testimony  before  the  Loud  Commission,  1898,  the 
Wolcott  Commission,  1901,  the  Penrose-Overstreet  Commission, 
1907,  and  before  the  Hughes  Commission,  whose  report  is  not  yet 
compiled  for  publication.  Each  and  all  of  them,  so  far  as  I  have  read 
their  testimony,  argue  eloquently  that  the  present  rates  of  railway 
mail-pay  and  car  rentals  are,  if  unfair  at  all,  unfair  to  the  railroads — 
that  the  rates  of  pay  are  too  low. 

In  this  connection  a  most  peculiar,  if  not  indeed  a  peculiarly 

*Car  and  mile- run  rates  corrected  for  1908  and  since. 


270  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

suggestive,  harmony  of  opinion  appears  to  have  existed  between  the 
special  pleaders  for  the  railroads  in  this  matter  of  railway  mail-pay 
and  government  officials — both  executive  and  legislative — who  have 
had  most  to  do  with  fixing  railway  pay  rates.  The  government  has 
spent  millions  of  dollars  for  investigations  by  commissions,  by  Senate 
and  House  committees,  by  inspectors,  special  agents,  etc.  Each 
commission  has  heard  numerously  from  the  railways.  Twenty- 
seven  of  them  were  in  hearing  before  the  Wolcott  Commission.  The 
testimony  of  Mr.  Kirkman,  from  whom  I  quote  the  preceding  tabu- 
lations, while  varying  in  phase,  phrase  and  verbiage  from  the  other 
railroad  representatives,  has  two  essential  features  common  to  them 
all,  or,  I  should  say,  three  features  common  to  them  all. 

1.  The    railroad    representatives    unanimously    oppose    any 
reduction  in  the  rates  for  railway  mail  pay  (weights  pay),  and  mail 
car  rentals — "space  charge,"  they  call  it. 

2.  They  are  a  unit  in  declaring  that  the  present  rates  are  too 
low,  but  they  as  unitedly  express  a  willingness  to  continue  business  at 
the  old  rates  rather  than  to  contemplate  the  possibility  of  a  reduction 
in  them,  or  even  squarely  to  argue  the  justice  and  fairness  of  such  a 
reduction. 

3.  When  forced  down  to  "tacks" — down  to  specific  facts — by 
some  interrogating  member  of  the  commission  before  which  they  are 
testifying,    these    railroad    representatives   again    have    a    marked 
similarity  as  to  "form."     Each  comes  eloquently  forward  with  his 
own  set  or  sets  of  figures  and  proceeds  to  make  his  own  application  of 
them.     But  when  some  commissioner  asks  for  information  and  en- 
lightenment as  to  "net  cost,"  "relative  cost,"  etc.,  of  mail  carriage 
as  compared  with  the  cost  of  express,  freight  or  passenger  handling, 
the  railroad  representatives,  almost  to  a  man,  at  once  begin  to  display 
a  dense  denseness  that  is  marvelously  wondrous  or  wonderously 
marvelous,  as  the  reader  may  choose  to  word  it. 

The  peculiar  or  suggestive  harmony  between  the  opinions  of  these 
railway  representatives  and  the  controlling  executive  and  legislative 
officials  of  the  Federal  Government,  is  especially  conspicuous  under 
point  2  as  numbered  above.  The  railway  people  plead  that  the  ruling 
rates  are  too  low,  but  are  willing  to  stand  for  them.  However,  they 
do  not  want  the  rates  lowered. 

The  peculiar  harmony  of  opinions  just  adverted  to  is  ample 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  271 

evidence,  or  so  it  appears  to  The  Man  on  the  Ladder,  of  this  one 
fact: 

The  present  rates  of  pay  for  railway  mail  weight  carriage  are  the 
rates  fixed  by  the  act  of  1879.  Freight,  express  and  passenger  rates 
or  tariffs  have  been  changed — have  been  lowered.  The  railways  did 
not  want  the  mail  rates  lowered  and  the  governmental  powers  that 
be,  and  have  been,  were  apparently  at  least,  quite  willing  to  take  their 
view  of  the  matter,  even  if  they  did  not  concur  in  the  numerous  half- 
baked,  threadbare  arguments  advanced  by  the  railroad  people  in 
support. 

The  rates  of  railway  mail  pay  have  remained  the  same  for  thirty- 
three  years — until  1908. 

Comment  is  unnecessary. 

As  evidence  in  support  of  points  1  and  3  as  above  numbered, 
points  on  which  railroad  representatives  so  uniformly  agree  in  support 
of,  or,  with  equal  uniformity,  display  concurring  lapses  of  memory  or 
lack  of  knowledge  relating  to,  I  shall  here  quote  further  from  Mr. 
Kirkman's  testimony  before  the  Wolcott  Commission.  In  electing 
to  quote  from  Mr.  Kirkman  rather  than  from  another  to  evidence 
points  1  and  3, 1  am  influenced  only  by  the  fact  that  I  have  the  report 
of  the  Wolcott  Commission  before  me  at  the  moment,  and  to  the 
further  fact  that  Mr.  Kirkman's  testimony  appears  to  me  cogently 
illustrative  of  the  points  to  which  I  have  called  the  reader's 
attention. 

In  closing  his  prepared  or  written  testimony  (page  208  of  the 
report),  Mr.  Kirkman  says: 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  compensation  afforded  this  railroad 
for  carrying  the  mail  is  not  now  in  excess  of  what  it  should  be.  It  is  not  improper, 
therefore,  for  us  to  beg,  if  rates  can  not  be  increased,  that  no  further  reductions 
may  be  made;  also,  that  the  practice  of  fixing  the  compensation  paid  for  mail 
service  on  the  basis  of  the  weight  carried  at  the  commencement  of  the  four-year 
periods  (instead  of  on  the  weights  carried  in  the  middle  of  the  periods),  may  be 
abandoned  in  favor  of  a  more  equitable  system. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  this  witness  states  with 
confidence  that  the  compensation  his  road  (the  Chicago  and  North- 
western) receives  "is  not  now  in  excess  of  what  it  should  be"  and 
begs  that,  "if  the  rates  cannot  be  increased,  that  no  further  reductions 
be  made." 


272  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

I  shall  now  reprint  a  few  pages  from  the  report  of  Mr.  Kirk- 
man's  oral  testimony  as  illustrative  of  point  3: 

By  Mr.  CATCHINGS: 

Q.  What  did  you  state  were  the  gross  receipts  from  your  whole  system  for 
carrying  the  mails?— A.  About  $800,000. 

Q.  Now,  can  you  state  to  this  commission  what  your  net  profit  was  for 
carrying  that  amount  over  your  system? — A.  /  do  not  know. 

Q.     Can  you  make  any  estimate? — A.     No,  sir. 

Q.  You  heard  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Simpson  (representing  the  Flint  and 
Pere  Marquette  Railroad),  did  you  not? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  He  stated  that  his  road  carried  the  mails  at  a  dead  loss  What  that 
loss  was  he  was  unable  to  give  us.  I  understand  you  to  say  that  you  do  make  a 
profit  out  of  carrying  the  mails? — A.  I  beg  your  pardon  I  said  that,  because 
we  got  approximately  the  same  rate  per  ton  per  mile  for  carrying  the  mails  as  for 
express  (and  that  the  express  rate  had  been  a  matter  of  careful  negotiation  as 
between  our  company  and  the  express  company) ;  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  we 
would  not  have  taken  the  express  business  unless  we  derived  a  profit  from  it,  and 
therefore  I  think  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  we  must  derive  a  profit  from 
the.  postoffice  business. 

Q.  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  you  have  no  estimate  as  to  the  cost  of 
carrying  this  mail  matter? — A.  Not  to  my  knowledge.  We  have  taken  what  the 
Government  gave  us.  As  I  have  shown  you,  they  have  never  pretended  to  re- 
munerate us  for  many  services  rendered. 

Q.  If  you  are  unable  to  say  what  your  profit  was  for  carrying  this  mail, 
how  can  you  complain  that  you  are  not  being  properly  compensated  for  the  service 
rendered? — A.  Because  we  render  so  many  services  to-day  that  we  did  not 
formerly  when  the  rate  was  fixed. 

Q.  I  understand ;  but,  so  far  as  we  know  from  your  testimony,  you  may  be 
amply  compensated  for  it. — A  We  receive,  as  I  said  before,  a  certain  rate  from 
the  express  company  for  analogous  service,  and  do  not  render  them  anything  like 
the  equivalent  that  we  render  the  Postoffice  Department,  so  that  we  must  derive 
a  great  deal  more  profit  from  the  express  business  than  we  do  from  the  postoffice 

Q.  Still,  it  would  not  follow  that  you  were  not  deriving  proper  compensation 
for  carrying  the  mail,  would  it?— A  It  would  not  follow  that  we  do  not  derive 
some  compensation  from  it 

Q.  Unless  you  are  prepared  to  tell  us  what  your  profit  is,  or  your  loss,  as  the 
case  may  be,  of  course  you  can  not  expect  us  to  know  it,  and,  unless  we  know  it,  you 
can  not  expect  us  to  sympathize  with  the  complaint  —A  We  are  not  making  com- 
plaint about  the  compensation  we  receive,  but  the  threat  held  over  our  heads  that  our 
compensation  would  be  cut  down  When  they  cut  us  down  on  the  land-grant  roads 
they  did  not  make  it  a  matter  of  negotiation  at  all;  they  just  simply  took  off  20 
per  cent. 

Q.  Do  you  not  think  that  the  best  way  to  prove  this  complaint  would  be 
to  show  that  you  are  not  receiving  due  compensation? — A  If  I  was  keeping  a 
boarding  house  and  you  came  to  me  and  I  agreed  to  give  you  two  meals  a  day,  and 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  273 

you  afterwards  exacted  four,  because  you  are  mightier  than  I  in  forcing  it,  would 
it  be  necessary  for  me  to  prove  that  I  was  giving  you  something  that  you  were  not 
entitled  to  under  your  contract? 

Q.     You  ought  to  show  us  what  your  net  profits  are. — A.     It  is  impossible. 
By  the  CHAIRMAN: 

Q.  General  Catchings  calls  your  attention  to  this:  In  your  direct  exami- 
nation I  asked  you  if  you  had  any  suggestions  to  make  to  this  commission  in  the 
matter  of  changes  of  law  You  said  you  thought  the  law  should  be  so  changed  as 
to  increase  your  compensation  to  an  adequate  sum  Now,  in  answer  to  General 
Catchings,  you  say  that  it  is  remunerative ;  he  asks  you  how  much  you  make,  and 
you  can  not  tell;  then  he  asks  you  why  you  recommend  a  change  in  the  law  if 
you  will  not  tell  the  commission  what  you  are  now  making  by  it,  and  if  you  can  tell 
what  your  profits  in  carrying  the  mail  are  That  is  what  General  Catchings  is 
anxious  to  have  you  tell. 

By  Mr.  CATCHINGS: 

Q.  I  would  like  very  much  to  know  if  we  are  underpaying  these  roads; 
we  would  like  to  pay  them. — A.  You  ask  a  question  that  there  is  nobody  but 
Omniscience  could  answer,  because  there  is  no  possible  method  by  which  you  can 
determine  accurately  what  the  cost  is  of  carrying  traffic  The  Government  did 
pretend  at  one  time  to  divide  the  expense  of  operating  as  between  passenger  and 
freight,  but  finally  abandoned  it  Now,  if  you  can  not  determine  the  cost  between 
passenger  and  freight,  how  can  you  determine  it  between  mail  and  other  kinds? 

Q.  There  is  one  thing  certain ;  if  the  roads  can  not  determine  it,  the  Govern- 
ment can  not. — A.  Is  it  not  true  that,  in  matters  of  this  kind,  no  one  would 
expect  anything  definite  in  the  absence  of  definite  information? 

Q.  I  do  not  see  why  you  can  not  figure  as  well  the  cost  of  carrying  these 
mails  as  you  can  the  cost  of  carrying  the  express  packages.  I  do  not  see  why  it 
ought  to  be  more  difficult  for  you  to  determine  that. — A  There  is  not  any  single 
thing  that  a  railroad  carries,  from  a  first  class  passenger  to  a  cord  of  stone,  that  it 
can  tell  accurately  what  the  cost  is  Tariffs  are  a  matter  of  evolution. 

Q.  At  least,  your  road  is  better  off  than  the  Flint  and  Pere  Marquette,  for 
they  carry  at  a  loss  and  you  carry  at  a  profit  — A  I  did  not  say  we  carry  at  a 
profit;  but  I  say  that  is  my  judgment,  sir 

Q.     I  believe  something  has  been  said  about  the  extraordinary  cost  at  which 
these  railroads  handle  these  postal  cars      I  would  like  to  have  you  help  me  reach 
a  conclusion  from  that      How  many  railway  postal  cars  have  you  on  your  system  ? 
— A.     I  do  not  know  how  many  we  do  have 
By  the  CHAIRMAN  : 

Q.     Does  your  statement  show  ? — A      No,  sir ;  it  does  not. 
By  Mr  CATCHINGS 

Q  How  much  do  you  receive  from  the  government  for  the  railway  postal 
cars? — A.  We  receive  certain  compensation  for  cars  over  a  given  length. 

Q.  You  stated,  I  believe,  the  gross  revenue  to  you  for  these  cars? — A  We 
have  a  great  many  that  we  do  not  receive  any  revenue  from  the  government  for 
their  use. 


274  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Q.  I  want  to  know  what  your  revenue  is  from  the  postal  cars?— A.  I  can 
not  tell  you. 

Q.     You  can  furnish  that  amount? — A     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  I  wish  you  would  furnish  this  commission  a  statement  showing  the  gross 
revenue  to  your  system  of  road  derived  from  these  postal  cars;  and  then  I  wish 
you  would  furnish  a  statement  showing  what  the  cost  to  you  is  of  maintaining 
those  cars,  keeping  them  in  repair,  what  the  estimated  cost  to  you  is  of  hauling 
them,  and  the  number  of  cars? — A.  I  will  give  you  all  that  you  desire  so  far  as  I 
can. 

By  Mr.  LOUD: 

Q.  You  stated,  Mr  Kirkman,  that  you  were  Vice- President  of  the  Chicago 
and  Northwestern  ? — A.  Yes,  sir 

Q.     Are  you  General  Manager? — A     No,  sir 

Q.  What  is  your  particular  business  in  connection  with  the  railroad? — A. 
I  have  charge  of  the  local  finances  and  accounts  of  the  company 

Q.  You  are  not  prepared  to  answer  technically,  then,  questions  that  might 
be  propounded  to  you,  as  has  been  developed  in  the  examination  by  Mr.  Catchings, 
about  the  cost  of  the  operation  of  a  car  and  the  cost  of  the  transportation  of  a  ton 
of  freight,  passengers,  etc  ? — A.  I  am  as  -well  prepared  to  answer  the  question  as 
anyone.  There  is  no  one,  as  I  said  before,  who  knows  what  the  cost  is  or  can  tell  you 
definitely,  simply  for  the  reason  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  fix  the  cost  as  between 
passengers  and  freight,  for  instance. 

Q.  What  is  the  use  of  our  investigation,  then? — A.  I  am  here  before  this 
commission ;  my  time  here,  perhaps,  represents  ten  dollars  or  ten  cents.  What 
am  I  going  to  charge  it  to?  In  this  case  perhaps  to  mail.  In  many  expenses  of 
railroads  there  are  questions  impossible  to  determine  as  to  what  expenditures 
should  be  charged  to.  You  may  make,  as  the  General  has,  a  comparison  between 
the  Flint  and  Pere  Marquette,  what  he  thinks  is  an  approximate  statement  of 
cost ;  it  may  be  more,  and  it  may  not.  For  instance,  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  requires  that  the  mail  shall  be  carried  on  fast  trains — 

Q  You  are  going  into  quite  an  argument.  You  ought  to  be  able  to  tell 
what  it  cost  to  haul  the  mail. — A.  No,  sir;  I  can  not. 

Q.     You  can  not  tell?— A.     No,  sir;  nobody  can  tell. 

Q.  Could  not  your  General  Manager  give  us  some  information  on  that 
subject  ? 

Mr.  CHANDLER.  He  can  tell  how  much  their  gross  receipts  are  and  what 
the  gross  expenditures  are,  and  he  can  tell  whether  their  whole  business  is  done 
at  a  profit  or  not ;  but  I  do  not  understand  that  the  railroads  can  subdivide  their 
receipts  and  expenditures  so  as  to  tell  whether  any  particular  branch  of  it  actually 
pays  a  profit  or  not.  The  previous  witness  undertook  to  do  it,  and  I  noticed,  as 
he  went  on,  that  it  was  mere  guesswork.  Mr.  Kirkman  says  he  never  has  done  it. 

The  WITNESS.  I  want  to  say,  Mr.  Loud,  that  this  question  of  division  of 
cost  has  been  up  before  railroads  and  experts  for  forty  years,  and  here  is  what 
the  chief  engineer  of  the  Pennsylvania  says  in  regard  to  it.  He  estimates  that  the 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  275 

cost,  for  instance,  of  maintenance  of  track  and  machinery  increases  -with  the  square 
oj  the  "velocity 

By  the  CHAIRMAN: 

Q.  How  much  do  you  charge  this  maintenance  of  way? — A.  What  is  the 
wear  and  tear  of  machinery  and  track  from  the  passage  of  a  particular  train? 
No  one  can  tell  nor  guess  approximately  In  an  examination  of  this  question  I  gave 
it,  probably,  the  most  exhaustive  study  that  I  have  given  any  subject  in  my  life, 
because  so  much  depended  on  it — I  searched  all  the  records  of  Scotland  and 
England  and  of  the  United  States  to  determine,  but  unavailingly — 
By  Mr.  LOUD: 

Q.  Could  you  not  put  a  train  of  five  cars  on  and  run  it  from  Chicago  to 
Council  Bluffs  and  give  approximately  what  that  train  would  cost  to  operate  and 
the  approximate  cost  of  wear  and  tear  to  your  rails? — A.  I  can  determine  all 
those  things  that  are  apparent ;  that  is,  the  cost — 

Q.  That  is  all  we  expect:  what  is  reasonable. — A.  But  then  there  is  the 
question  oj  interest  and  the  wear  and  tear  oj  machinery  and  track. 

Q.  Let  us  discard  the  interest.  You  ought  to  be  able  to  get  at  the  cost  of 
operation. — A.  That  train  so  run  has  to  receive  the  constant  attention  oj  station 
men,  oj  track  men,  the  whole  length.  If  you  will  give  it  a  moment's  reflection  you 
will  see  how  utterly  impossible  it  is  to  determine  it  accurately  enough  to  state  here 
to  this  commission. 

Q.  Approximately,  it  ought  to  be  a  perfectly  easy  matter.  It  seems  to  be 
to  other  railroad  men. — A  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  railroad  man  who  has  given 
it  any  more  attention  than  I  have  and  no  railroad  man  understanding  the  subject 
will  do  more  than  guess  at  it. 

Q.  I  will  ask  you  a  few  questions.  If  you  can  answer  them  I  wish  you 
would.  How  many  miles  of  land-grant  railroad  have  you? — A.  My  impression 
is  that  we  have  about  600. 

Q.     Out  of  your  total  of  5,000  miles?— A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  is  the  average  charge  on  your  road  for  freight  per  ton  mile? — A. 
Last  year  ninety-nine  one-hundredths  of  a  cent  per  ton  mile. 

Q.     You  do  not  know  how  much  it  costs?    That  is  correct,  is  it  not? 
You  do  not  know  how  much  it  costs? — A.     That  is  correct. 

Q.  You  do  not  know  how  much  it  costs  to  operate  a  40  or  60  foot  mail 
car? — A.  No,  sir',  only  approximately. 

Q.  Can  you  say,  approximately,  how  much? — A.  No,  sir.  It  will  afford 
me  great  pleasure  to  give  you  all  this  information  that  can  be  determined  if  you  desire, 
but  it  is  valueless  in  itself. 

Q.  Can  you  say  approximately? — A.  /  can  not.  I  would  be  very  glad  to 
furnish  you  all  the  figures,  but  such  questions,  like  the  cost  of  the  velocity  with 
which  we  send  trains  across  the  country,  are  unknown. 

Q.     Does  it  cost  a  dollar  a  mile  as  the  outside  ? — A.     I  could  not 

Q.  Would  it  not? — A.  /  would  not  want  to  pay  you  tlie  disrespect  oj  saying 
a  thing  that  I  know  nothing  about. 


276  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

The  foregoing  testimony  appears  on  pages  213-216  of  the  Wolcott 
report.  The  italics  are  mine.  When  so  well  informed  a  railroad  man 
as  Mr.  Kirkman  answers  questions — questions  covering  that  which 
appears,  to  a  layman  at  least,  to  be  essential  in  successful  railway 
management — as  he  is  reported  in  the  foregoing,  what  is  to  be  thought 
of  such  testimony  ?  With  all  due  respect  to  Mr.  Kirkman,  it  may  be 
said  that  his  apparently  frank  confession  of  ignorance  as  to  several 
points  made  subject  of  inquiry  by  the  commissioners  in  the  part  of  his 
testimony  quoted,  many  readers  of  it  are  left  with  more  or  less  valid 
grounds  for  doubt — grounds  for  asking  more  or  less  offensive  ques- 
tions: "Was  the  witness  telling  the  truth  or  equivocating — stalling 
for  time?"  If  he  told  the  truth — if  his  acknowledged  ignorance  was 
genuine — as  to  several  essential  factors  in  the  successful  management 
and  financing  of  a  railroad — then  of  what  value  are  his — or  any  other 
railroad  man's — statistics  and  tabulations  of  cost,  profits,  losses, 
rates,  tariffs,  "cost  of  velocity,"  etc.,  etc.? 

Mr.  Kirkman's  reputation  for  truth  and  veracity,  I  believe,  is  as 
high  as  that  of  any  other  railroad  man's  in  the  country,  yet  on  several 
basic  factors  in  the  problem  which  the  Wolcott  Commission  was, 
presumably  at  least,  trying  to  solve,  he  confessed  an  ignorance  as 
profound  as  its  members  and  the  officials  of  the  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment acknowledge.  If,  as  Mr.  Kirkman  virtually  testifies,  the 
information  sought  is  beyond  the  ken  of  man,  then  why  persist  in 
spending  thousands — yes  millions — of  money  trying  to  run  it  down  ? 

If  these  railroad  men  do  not  know  the  things  which  it  is  necessary 
to  know  to  arrive  at  a  solution  of  this  railway  mail  carrying  problem — 
to  arrive  at  a  just,  equitable  rate  of  pay  for  the  service  rendered — 
why  waste  more  time  on  them? 

That  question  brings  us  back  to  the  rails  again. 

Why  do  not  our  postal  officials  and  commissions  reach  out  to 
Cornville  and  summon  a  few  eighth-grade  nubbins  ?  Then  turn  over 
to  them  the  wastefully  collected  and  collated  statistics,  data  and  talk 
which  the  Postoffice  Department  has  in  cold  storage  and  tell  them  to 
"go  to  it"  at,  say,  $25  per  week? 

Yes,  why  not  ? 

Skilled  lawyers,  reputed  "experts,"  men  of  "experience"  and 
"students,"  it  would  seem,  have  told  all  they  know  about  this  railway 
mail  cost  problem — told  the  truth  or  equivocated  or  lied  about  it,  to 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  277 

the  best  of  their  ability  and  in  full  accord  and  harmony  with  their 
several  "standards"  of  veracity.  Still  they  have  failed  to  uncover  or 
to  divulge  the  essential  and  governing  factors  in  the  problem — failed 
for  thirty  or  forty  years.  Is  it  not  about  time,  then,  for  sensible  people, 
I  would  ask,  to  enter  the  plea  of  the  Master  and  say,  "Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  me?" 

Any  average  "shock"  of  eighth-grade  nubbins  from  Cornville,  or 
from  other  hamlets  where  the  "little  red  school  house"  has  been  in 
fairly  active  operation,  will  "figger"  the  cost — the  cost  to  the  railroads — 
of  mail  haulage  and  handling,  in  not  to  exceed  four  weeks. 

That  is,  such  a  bunch  of  eighth  graders  will  arrive  at  a  dependable 
solution  of  this  forty-year-old  problem  in  four  weeks,  if  they  are  given 
the  plain,  bald  facts  upon  which  a  correct  solution  depends,  and  not 
turned  loose  on  a  lot  of  befudling,  alleged  data  and  accepted  "testi- 
mony." 

As  I  must  necessarily  touch  upon  the  raid  of  the  railroads  into 
postal  revenues  when  I  reach  the  closing  division  of  this  volume,  I 
shall  not  comment  further  here  on  the  testimony  and  special  pleadings 
presented  by  railroad  representatives  to  the  several  postal  commis- 
sions that  have  sat  and  sat  and  then  "reported."  The  commissions 
probably — possibly,  if  not  probably — reported  the  best  they  could 
on  the  evidence  presented  to  them.  Certain  it  is,  their  reports  present 
much  valuable — much  informative — data  of  which  neither  Congress 
nor  the  Postoffice  Department  appears  to  have  made  any  constructive 
or  corrective  use. 

Before  quitting  this  railway  pay  raid,  however,  it  may  be  well 
to  do  a  little  figuring — basing  our  figures  on  Mr.  Kirkman's  tabu- 
lations of  rates,  printed  some  pages  back.  The  tables  of  rates  are 
correct.  They  ought  to  be.  If  rate-tables  could  vote  the  youngest 
of  the  two  was  entitled  to  the  suffrage  many  years  since.*  But  let  us 
look  into  and  over  them  in  a  little-red-school-house  way. 

The  first  mail  rail-haul  weight  is  200  pounds.  That  weight  of 
mail  is  carried  on  some  cornfield  railroad — "a  feeder."  It  is  all 
bundled  or  sacked,  if  "free  in  country"  or  other  second-class  matter, 
sacked  or  pouched  if  first  or  third-class,  and,  also,  if  valuable  fourth- 
class.  Some  of  the  fourth-class,  if  large  in  dimension  of  package, 
may,  of  course,  be  loose.  But  whatever  their  class,  character,  pouch- 
ing, sacking,  casing,  or  jacketing,  that  estimated  weight  (estimated 

"Tables  corrected  for  1908. 


278  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

once  every  jour  years],  is  received  by  the  railroad  and  dumped  into  a 
corner  of  a  "general  utility"  car.  By  that  I  mean  a  car  used  for  carry- 
ing baggage  and  express  matter,  between  stations — jars,  buckets, 
boxes,  bags,  etc.,  of  local  "favors"  or  shipments;  such  as  jam,  fruits, 
eggs,  butter,  and  even  "line  loafers"  who  are  going  to  mother,  uncle, 
or  friend  for  a  few  days  feed,  or — sometimes — going  to  the  local 
metropolis  for  a  "good  time." 

But  let  us,  for  the  moment,  stick  to  that  quadrenially  estimated 
200  pounds  of  mail.  At  the  several  stations  along  the  cornfield  or 
"feeder"  railroad  the  packages,  sacks  and  pouches  of  mail  are  tossed 
off  to  the  station  agent.  Coops  of  chickens,  cases  of  eggs,  tubs  or 
jars  of  butter  and  crates  of  fruit  or  vegetables  are  taken  on. 

Have  you,  the  reader,  ever  traveled  on  a  "cornfield  line?"  Have 
you  ever  "got  off  to  stretch  your  limbs"  at  some  station  between  start 
or  "change"  to  destination?  Have  you,  while  stretching  those  limbs 
of  yours,  ever  noticed  or  taken  note  of  the  miscellaneous  and  promis- 
cuous sort  of  goods — merchandise  and  human  adipose  tissue — that 
get  into  companionship,  into  carriage  or  housed  connection,  with  that 
"estimated"  200  pounds  of  United  States  mail? 

Well,  if  you  have,  no  argument  is  necessary  to  convince  you  that 
the  "railway  mail  pay"  rate  on  that  cornfield  line  is  from  two  to  five 
times  the  rate  paid  for  any  other  weight  (tonnage)  carried. 

Turn  back  and  look  at  the  table  of  railway  mail-pay  (weight). 
Look  at  the  rate  per  100  pound  per  mile  haul — 5.85  cents,  or  eleven 
and  seven-tenths  cents  for  carrying  200  pounds  one  mile. 

Do  you  weigh  200  pounds?  If  not,  our  President  and  several 
other  gentlemen  in  this  country  do,  and  you,  the  President,  or  the 
other  gentlemen,  will  be  carried — and  for  thirty  or  more  years  have 
been  carried  on  any  railroad  east  of  the  "Rockies" — for  three  cents  a  mile. 

Now,  you,  the  President,  or  other  gentlemen,  pay  only  two  cents 
a  mile  for  rail  haulage  on  most  all  of  the  cornfield  or  "feeder"  lines 
(and  on  "trunk"  lines  as  well),  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

You  see  the  joke  of  it?    The  postal  revenue  raid  in  it? 

Two  hundred  pounds  of  United  States  mail  is  railroaded  in  a 
general — a  catch-all  or  pick-up — car  at  a  government  charge  of  11.7 
cents  per  mile,  while  you,  the  President,  or  other  gentlemen,  pay  but 
3  cents!  You,  and  the  other  fellows  as  well,  have  an  upholstered 
seat,  have  watering  and  toilet  facilities  and  accommodations,  have 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  279 

smoking,  "pitch,"  "high-five,"  "cinch."  "euchre"  and,  maybe,  even 
"poker"  as  divertisements — with  palatable  "wets"  on  the  side! 

You,  the  President,  and  the  other  gentlemen,  have  all  this 
sumptuous  haulage  for  three  (or  two)  cents  a  mile,  while  the  200  pounds 
(averaged  every  four  years)  of  United  States  mail,  handled  as  junk  or 
dunnage,  pays  11.7  cents  a  mile. 

Does  it  not  look — look  to  you — somewhat  off  at  the  corners  some- 
where? Does  it  not  look  as  if  that  railway  "system"  feeder  line 
was  getting  robustly  large  pay  for  the  service  rendered  ? 

Well,  if  it  does  not  so  appear  to  you,  it  appears  to  me  that  you 
should,  at  your  earliest  convenience,  consult  some  qualified  and 
competent  alienist,  or  drop  into  a  "rest  resort"  for  six  months  or 
more. 

As  to  the  other  weights  given  in  that  tabulation — 500,  1,000  arid 
up  to  5,000 — nothing  here  needs  be  said.  They  are  all  below  the 
"postoffice  car"  weights.  At  the  weights,  5,000  pounds  per  day  of 
mail -haul,  the  student  of  this  rail-mail  pay  raid  should  sit  up  and  begin 
to  observe  his  nurse  and  the  attending  physician. 

Before  I  further  inflict  the  reader  with  personal  comments,  it 
might  be  of  mutual  advantage  to  quote  a  recognized  authority  on  the 
weights  actually  carried  in  postal  mail  cars — weights  of  actual  mail. 

I  take  the  following  from  the  official  report  of  the  Penrose- 
Overstreet  Commission,  pages  30-31. 

"It  is  stated  in  the  report  of  Dr.  Henry  C.  Adams  to  the  former 
Commission  (Vol.  II,  233),  that— 

"The  average  loading  of  the  postoffice  car,  according  to  the  testimony  before 
the  Commission  is  2  tons.  It  must  be  admitted,  in  view  of  the  great  weight  of 
these  cars,  that  such  loading  pays  little  regard  to  the  requirements  of  economy.  It  is 
doubtful  if,  on  the  basis  of  such  loading,  the  railways  could  afford  to  carry  mail 
at  a  rate  much  cheaper  than  it  is  now  carried.  On  the  other  hand,  if  cars  were 
loaded  with  3£  tons,  which  Mr.  Davis  says  is  an  easy  load,  or  should  the  average 
load  go  as  high  as  6  tons,  which,  according  to  testimony,  is  accomplished  on  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  by  a  special  train,  1  am  confident  that  railways  operate 
upon  a  margin  of  profit  in  carrying  mail  that  warrants  a  reduction  in  pay. 

"For  the  purpose  of  emphasizing  the  importance  of  loading  as  essential  to  the 
determination  of  railway  mail  compensation,  as  well  as  to  suggest  the  line  of 
desired  improvement  in  the  present  railway  mail  service,  it  may  be  added  that 
were  it  possible  to  load  5  tons  in  a  car,  the  expense  would  be  reduced  to  $1,766 
per  mile  of  line ;  that  is  to  say,  a  sum  less  than  one-half  the  amount  actually  paid." 

Dr.  Adams    in    the    foregoing  was    presenting   a    judgmental 


280  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

summary,  or  digest,  of  the  testimony  before  the  Wolcott  Commission 
on  this  "railway-mail-pay"  question.  His  opinion,  or  conclusion,  as 
to  the  dominent  factors  involved,  has  been  recognized  as  authority— 
if  not  final  authority — on  the  points  to  which  he  spoke. 

Now,  let  us  figure  a  little  more.  I'm  not  much  at  "ciferin." 
Maybe  the  reader  can  help  me  along.  Let's  get  properly  started. 

Those  rail  "postoffice  cars,"  of  which  Dr.  Adams  spoke,  are  from 
40  to  55  feet  or  more  in  length.  They  must  weigh,  empty,  or 
"stripped,"  figuring  running  trucks,  body,  etc.,  forty  to  one-hundred 
or  more  thousand  pounds.  So,  according  to  Dr.  Adams,  this  twenty 
to  fifty  ton  vehicle  is  sent  hurtling  over  a  hundred  or  a  five-hundred 
mile  run  on  a  steel  track  with  finest  and  most  modern  engine  or  motive 
power,  baggage  and  express  cars  ahead,  and  sleepers,  buffet,  diner 
and  observation  cars  trailing,  to  carry  two  tons  of  United  States  mail 
in  each  mail  car  in  the  train. 

Oh  yes,  I  know  that  Dr.  Adams  spoke  some  years  ago  (1901,  I 
believe),  and  spoke  of  the  "average  load"  of  mail  carried  by  mail 
cars  then.  I  also  know  that  our  present  Postmaster  General  has 
"gone  after"  this  railway  mail  car  raiding — has  made  them  carry 
more  load.  All  praise  to  him  for  doing  so.  It  was  an  action  which 
any  of  his  predecessors  had  the  power  to  have  taken,  and  which  should 
save  millions  of  postal  revenues. 

The  department  report  for  1910  (P157),  states,  there  were  1,114 
full  and  3,208  apartment  postal  cars  in  service — rented  cars — while 
there  were  206  of  the  former  and  559  of  the  latter  (a  total  of  765), 
kept  in  "reserve."  That  makes  a  total  of  5,087  postal  cars  for  which 
the  government  pays  rent. 

There  is,  however,  another  strong  presumption — with  some 
very  robust  facts  which  investigation  has  uncovered — that  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  so-called  "reserve"  cars  are  in  the  hospitals 
about  railroad  shops,  where  such  patients  receive  little  but  "open 
air  treatment."  In  "emergencies"  it  is  legitimate,  of  course,  to 
presume  that  the  division  traffic  manager  may  order  out  or  put  on 
the  rails  any  of  these  hospital  cars,  "full"  or  "apartment,"  as  first 
aids  to  the  injured.  And  it  is  right  that  he  does  so. 

But  why,  in  the  name  of  George  Washington,  should  all  these 
hospital  cars  be  charged  up  to  the  Postoffice  Department?  Yes, 
why? 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  281 

Oh,  yes,  I  know  that  they  are  all  in  "service"  or  "reserve" — all 
subject  to  department  orders.  But  when  one  looks  down  from  the  lad- 
der top  into  these  shop-hospital  yards  for  car  patients,  he  not  un- 
frequently  sees,  unless  he  is  freakishly  nearsighted  or  a  victim  of  a 
new  brand  of  strabismus,  an  old  "flat-wheeler"  which  bears  a  marked 
resemblance  to  one  that  he  used  to,  in  days  agone  (long  agone), 
pause,  while  husking  the  "down-row,"  and  gaze  at  in  admiration  as 
well  as  wonderment.  Of  course,  it  did  not  wear  "flat  wheels"  then. 
It  also  carries  some  mars  and  scars  of  time,  just  as  The  Man  on  the 
Ladder  carries  marks  which  did  not  stand  out  so  conspicuously  then  as 
now.  But  there,  on  its  sides,  appears,  somewhat  dimmed  by  age, 
that  patriotic,  stirring  designation :  U.  S.  Mail  Car. 

This  is  not  intended  as  a  criticism.  It  is  merely  a  suggestion  as 
to  where  the  present  or  some  future  Second  Assistant  Postmaster 
General  may  find  additional  raiding  into  the  postal  revenues. 

A  few  years  since,  Professor  Parsons  asserted,  (so  the  public  press 
declared — I  have  not  the  document  by  me  and  am  writing  hurriedly — 
the  Professor  will,  therefore,  excuse  me  if  I  mis-spell  or  misquote. 
Corrections  will  be  made  in  later  editions)  that  the  railway  mail  pay 
and  car  rental  raid  amounted  to  something  like  $24,000,000  a  year. 

Speaking  again  from  press  reports,  Mr.  Hitchcock  seems  to  have 
been  going  after  those  raiders.  At  any  rate  he  appears  to  have  stop- 
ped that  graft  sluiceway  to  the  extent — reports  vary — of  from 
nine  to  fourteen  millions  of  dollars  a  year. 

Again,  Mr.  Hitchcock,  we  say,  may  your  tribe  increase — on 
this  line  of  action  . 

Now  let  us  return  and  do  a  little  "red-school-house"  figuring  on 
this  railroad  pay  raid.  Some  pages  back,  we  reprinted  Mr.  Kirkman's 
tables  of  weight  and  car  rental  pay  to  the  railways.  You  can  glance 
back  and  verify  the  figures  when  you  deem  necessary.  Here  "orders" 
force  me  to  hurry.  But  in  spite  of  orders  a  few  generalizations  in 
"cipherin,"  have  to  be  made. 

Many  pages  back,  the  Postoffice  Department's  own  distribution 
of  mail  weights  for  1907  (the  last  preceding  "weighing  period"),  was 
printed.  For  ready  reference,  we  will  here  reprint  it. 

Per  Cent. 

First-class  matter 7 . 29 

Second-class  matter  . .  36 . 38 


282  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Per  Cent. 

Third-class  matter f 8 . 32 

Fourth-class  matter 2 . 73 

Franked  matter .21 

Penalty  matter 1 . 99 

Equipment  carried  in  connection  therewith 38 . 12 

Empty  equipment  dispatched 4 . 96 


Total 100.00 

A  few  pages  back  we  figured  out  how  a  200-pound  mail  weight 
haul  stacks  against,  around  and  up-to  a  200-pound  human  avoirdupois 
haul,  assuming,  of  course,  that  the  aforesaid  avoirdupois  is  not  casket- 
ed  with  the  mail,  express  or  baggage  in  front.  Well,  with  that  under- 
standing, the  reader  may  take  my  previous  statements  anent  those 
200  pounds  of  U.  S.  mail  matter  and  human  avoirdupois — whether 
citizen  or  imported — as  made.  He  should  also  understand  that 
what  was  then  said  fits,  of  course  with  a  varying  application,  to  the 
wheatfield,  cornfield,  oilfield,  cottonfield,  timber,  tobacco  and  other 
"feeder"  fields,  which  carry  our  mails  at  varying  rates  of  pay  for 
varying  weights  up  to  5,000  pounds. 

Now,  at  the  weight  of  5,000  pounds  (2J  tons),  is  about  where  the 
"postoffice  car"  enters,  and  it  is  to  the  mail-carriage-pay  the  railways 
get  for  this  postoffice  car  service  we  wish  here  to  "cipher"  on  a  little. 
As  a  start,  however,  the  "example"  must  be  "set."  To  do  that  a 
little  preliminary  figuring  must  be  done. 

The  quadrennial  weighing  of  the  mails  is  now  in  progress.  The 
last  preceding  weighing  was  in  1907.  In  the  interim,  however,  Mr. 
Hitchcock,  has  made  some  special  or  test  weighing — a  good  and  com- 
mendable business  movement — of  second-class  mail. 

From  these  weighings  the  department,  I  take  it,  has  arrived  at 
estimated  results  more  or  less  satisfactory — to  itself  at  least.  The 
1910  report  presents  a  tabulated  tonnage  of  second-class  matter  on 
page  329.  A  prolix  discussion  of  the  cost  of  handling  second-class 
mail  appears  on  immediately  associated  pages.  The  discussion  is  a 
masterly,  a  forensic,  production,  and,  outside  of  Indiana,  the  habitat 
of  experts,  it  may  stand  out  in  fair  form  as  a  literary  production. 
Our  Third  Assistant  Postmaster  General  must,  though,  have  got  the 
wires  crossed  or  the  gear  jammed  on  his  comptometer  to  have  reached 
those  two  "answers." 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  283 

Sixty-two  and  a  fraction  per  cent  oj  the  total  mail  is  second  class. 
To  haul  and  handle  a  pound  of  second-class  mail  costs  the  govern- 
ment nine  and  a  fraction  cents. 

SOME  LITTLE  RED  SCHOOL  HOUSE  FIGURING. 

Now,  let  us  sit  down  on  the  veranda,  bring  out  the  little  red 
school  house  slates  and  do  some  figuring  on  this  railway  pay  problem, 
question,  proposition,  or  whatever  the  "experts"  may  choose  to  call  it. 

First,  there,  on  page  329of  the  1910  report,  it  states,  "estimated" 
on  the  basis  of  those  1907  "special  weighings,"  that  there  were  873,- 
412,  077  pounds  of  second-class  mail  carried  and  handled. 

Let's  see !  Yes,  of  course,  how  simple  it  is.  There's  that  1907 
table  of  percentages,  a  page  or  so  back. 

As  it  was  "figured  out"  in  1907  by  the  people  who  did  the  weighing, 
or  who  bossed  it,  we  may  consider  it  as  dependable  as  the  Third 
Assistant  Postmaster  General's  figures  on  page  329  of  the  depart- 
ment's 1910  report. 

The  reader  will  please  understand  me.  I  do  not  mean  to  say 
that  either  the  1907  or  1910  reports  are  dependable. 

I  wish  the  reader  to  understand  that  I  understand,  or  believe, 
them  both  to  be  merely  guesses — guesses  more  or  less  mis-stitched  in 
the  knitting  and  more  or  less  frazzled  and  thread-bare  by  reason  of 
long  service. 

But  they  are  what  we  have  to  "figger"  from. 

Page  329  of  the  1910  report  says: 

Total  mailings  (second-class),  873,412,077  pounds. 

The  1907  tabulation  of  distributed  mail  weights  (see  table  a 
few  pages  back)  says  that  second-class  mail,  in  carriage,  is  36.39 
per  cent  of  the  total  mail  weight. 

Here's  where  we  put  our  slates  into  service. 

We'll  first  divide  (look  back  at  that  1907  table),  873,412,077 
pounds  by  .3638 — that  being  the  percentage  of  second-class  to  the 
total  of  mail  carried,  as  reported  in  the  "special  weighing"  of  1907. 

Well,  .3638  into  873,412,077  gives  us  2,400,802,890  pounds  as 
the  gross  mail  weight  carriage  in  1910. 

That  does  not  look  near  so  large,  nor  so  questionably  peculiar,  as 
does  some  other  "answers"  we  are  figuring  out  on  our  little  red  school- 
house  slates. 


284  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Looking  back  to  that  1907  tabulated  estimate,  we  find  that,  of 
the  total  weight  carried — and  paid  for  as  mail — .4308  of  that  total  for 
which  we  patriotic,  likewise  confiding,  kitchen-garden  citizens  pay 
is  not  mail  at  all. 

A  glance  at  that  1907  tabulation  will  show  us  that  43.08  per  cent, 
of  the  total  mail  weight  for  which  the  government  pays  is  for  "equip- 
ment" and  "empty  equipment  dispatched." 

Now  let's  take  our  slates  again  and  multiply  that  total  weight 
2,400,802,850  pounds  by  .4308.  "Well,  what's  your  answer?" 

One  billion,  thirty-four  million,  two  hundred  forty-five  thousand, 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-eight  pounds ! 

Well,  that's  some  tonnage,  is  it  not  ?  Of  course,  as  the  reader  will 
readily  grab  hold  of,  that  tonnage  is  not,  in  itself,  staged  as  a  "feature" 
in  this  "ciphering."  This  is  a  big  country  and  its  tonnages  are  big, 
whether  of  wheat,  corn,  pigs,  fools,  or  mail.  It  is  a  "curtain" 
comparison  we  desire  to  have  noticed  and  studied.  Look  at  it,  study 
it  prayerfully,  then  put  your  thinker  to  work  for  about  thirty  seconds. 

According  to  the  Postoffice  Department's  own  figures  and 
estimates,  it  appears  that  a  total  tonnage  of  2,400,000,000  pounds 
(omitting  the  tail  figures),  were  handled,  and  the  cost  of  all  paid 
for  by  this  grand  old  government  of  ours. 

Next,  let  us  notice  that  1,034,000,000  pounds  (tail  figures  again 
omitted),  was  not  mail  at  all — sacks,  fixtures,  etc.,  etc. 

Now,  look  at  it — the  result. 

Railroads  were  paid  for  carrying  2,400,000,000  pounds  of  mail. 

Of  that  total  weight  1,034,000,000  (nearly  half)  was  "equipment" 
and  "empty"  equipment  "dispatched." 

Beyond  the  showing  of  these  figures,  comment  is  scarcely  neces- 
sary for  anyone  at  all  familiar  with  railway  traffic  methods  and  costs 
— whether  the  haulage  is  by  slow  or  fast  freight  or  by  express — anyone 
will  see  the  raid  in  it. 

Look  at  that  haulage  of  "equipment,"  which  the  postoffice 
revenues  pay  for!  Pay  for  as  mail.  Look  it  over,  and  over  again 
and  then  sit  up  and  do  a  little  hard  thinking. 

Waters  Pearse,  of  Pearseville,  Texas,  ships,  say  ten  or  twenty 
coops  of  chickens  to  Chicago.  He  may  ship  by  express  or  by  fast 
freight — the  latter  of  course,  if  "Wat"  and  his  friends  have  been  able 
to  make  up  a  carload.  "Wat"  consigns  his  chickens  to  some  Com- 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  285 

mission  house  in  Kansas  City,  St.  Louis,  Chicago  or  elsewhere. 
Wherever  our  friend  "Wat"  of  Pearceville,  Texas,  ships,  or  whether 
he  ships  by  express  or  by  fast  freight,  his  empty  coops  will  be  returned 
to  him  without  charge. 

If  Steve  Gingham,  in  Southern  Illinois — "Egypt" — has  a  hen 
range  and  his  hens  have  been  busy,  Steve  will  have  several  cases  of 
eggs  to  ship  every  week  or  ten  days.  Well,  all  Steve  has  to  do  is  to 
take  his  cases  of  eggs  over  to  the  railroad  station.  Some  express 
company  will  pick  them  up  and  take  them  to  Chicago,  to  St.  Louis,  to 
Cincinnati,  or  other  market.  In  a  few  days,  about  the  time  Steve 
gets  the  check  for  his  eggs,  he'll  find  the  cases  on  the  station  platform 
returned  to  him,  without  charge. 

What  we've  said  about  our  friends,  Wat  down  in  Texas,  and 
Steve  in  "Egypt,"  is  equally  true  of  any  shipment  of  any  sort  of 
specially  crated  fruit  or  vegetables,  of  boxed,  bucketed  or  canned 
fish,  milk,  etc.,  etc.  The  shipping  cases,  buckets,  boxes  or  cans  are 
returned  to  the  shipper  without  charge.  Yet  here  is  this  great  govern- 
ment of  ours  paying  the  railways  for  nearly  one  ton  of  fixtures  and 
equipment  for  every  ton  of  mail  (all  classes),  carried.  Fixtures, 
equipment,  etc.,  aggregated,  in  the  weighing  of  1907  (see  tabulation 
a  page  or  two  back),  43.08  per  cent  of  the  total  weight  for  which  the 
government  has  paid  mail-weight  rates  for  four  years — paid  for  haul- 
ing those  racks,  frames,  sacks,  etc.,  etc.,  back  and  forth  over  the  rail- 
line  haul  every  day  of  the  four  years. 

Railroad  people  and  their  representatives  have  written  volumin- 
ously, likewise  fetchingly,  to  prove  to  an  easily  "bubbled"  public  that 
the  government  has  been  paying  too  little  rather  than  too  much  for 
the  rail  carriage  of  its  mails.  I  have  read  numerous  such  vestibuled 
productions.  They  were  all  good ;  top-branch  verbiage  and  rhetoric, 
so  smooth,  noiseless  and  jarless  in  coupling  that  the  uncritical  reader's 
sympathies  are  often  aroused,  and  his  conviction  or  belief  enlisted  by 
the  sheer  massive  grandeur  of  the  terminology  used.  Try  almost  any 
of  these  promotion  railway  mail-pay  talkers  and  throw  the  belt  on  your 
own  thought-mill  while  you  read.  Four  times  in  five  the  ulterior- 
motive  writer  or  speaker  will  have  you  rolling  into  the  roundhouse  or 
repair  shop  before  you  know  you  have  even  been  coupled  onto  the 
train.  When  you  emerge,  if  your  thinker  is  still  off  its  belt,  you  will 
find  yourself  about  ready  to  "argue"  that  the  railroads  are  very  much 


286  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

underpaid,  if,  indeed,  not  grossly  wronged  by  the  government.  I 
would  like  to  quote  some  of  the  picture  arguments  from  several  of 
these  railway  studios  but  cannot.  As  illustrative  of  the  general 
ensemble  of  these  forensic  art  productions,  I  will,  however,  reproduce 
here  a  gem  from  one  of  them — a  bit  of  verbal  canvas  so  generic  and 
homelike  as  to  class  as  a  bit  of  real  genre. 

The  reader  will  find  it  in  Pearson's  Magazine  for  June,  1911. 
Who  personally  perpetrated  it,  I  know  not,  and  the  magazine  sayeth 
not.  The  editor  of  Pearson's,  however,  assures  us  that  the  article 
from  which  the  following  excerpt  is  made,  was  "prepared"  by  the 
authority  and  under  the  direction  of  the  Committee  on  Railway  Mail 
Pay,  and  as  prominent  members  of  said  committee  the  editor  gives  the 
names  of  Julius  Kruttschnitt,  Director  of  Maintenance  and  Opera- 
tion, Union  and  Southern  Pacific  Systems;  Ralph  Peters,  President 
and  General  Manager,  Long  Island  Railroad,  Charles  A .  Wickersham, 
President  and  General  Manager,  Western  Railway  of  Alabama;  W. 
W.  Baldwin,  Vice-President,  C.  B.  &  Q.  Railroad;  Frank  Barr,  Third 
Vice-President  and  General  Manager  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  Rail- 
road. 

That  is  certainly  a  representative  quintette  of  railway  artists 
and  generally  recognized  as  qualified  to  produce — verbally — almost 
anything  in  railway  art,  from  a  freehand  tariff  to  a  "car  shortage" 
done  in  oil  while  the  crops  ought  to  be  moving.  Am  sorry  I  cannot 
quote  more  extendedly.  The  following,  however,  will  give  the  reader 
a  sample  of  the  "style"  and  also  of  the  "argument"  common  to  most 
of  the  protective  and  promotive  railway  word  pictures : 

If,  as  has  been  reported,  a  certain  railroad  president  ever  did  utter  the  famous 
phrase  attributed  to  him,  "the  public  be  damned,"  the  public  has  more  than 
gotten  even.  It  does  the  damning  itself  nowadays  instead,  and  so  effective  is  its 
verdict  that  we  are  even  confronted  with  the  spectacle  of  the  government  itself 
bowing  to  the  popular  prejudice  irrespective  of  the  facts  in  the  case.  Undoubted- 
ly we  have  become  a  nation  of  stone-throwers.  To  a  certain  extent  this  has  work- 
ed for  the  public  benefit.  Every  deserved  stone  has  worked  for  the  correction  of 
admitted  evils.  But  so  rapidly  has  the  public  taken  to  the  lately  discovered 
pastime  of  stone-throwing  that  it  not  infrequently  uses  its  strength  like  a  giant, 
and  that,  we  have  been  told,  is  tyrannous.  Let  a  corporation  raise  its  head 
nowadays  and  it  is  greeted  by  a  shower  of  stones  of  which  perhaps  not  ten  per 
cent,  are  intelligently  cast.  The  only  thing  to  do  in  such  a  case  is  to  "duck;" 
argument  becomes  futile  in  the  heat  of  battle. 
*************** 


POSTAL  RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  287 

That  is  sufficient  to  show  the  ''style."  The  article  then  proceeds 
to  give  some  mail -service  history  and  to  cite  a  few  points  wherein  by 
"arbitrary"  rulings  the  government  is  grievously  wronging  the  rail- 
roads in  under-paying  them  for  the  carrying  of  the  mails.  The  follow- 
ing is  one  of  the  strong  points  or  arguments  presented : 

Furthermore,  the  railroads  hold  that  an  additional  injustice  was  done  in  this 
connection  in  the  adoption  of  the  present  methods  of  determining  the  weights. 
In  addition  to  the  several  reductions  from  the  act  of  1873  above  mentioned,  and  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  various  government  committees  admitted  their  injustice,  a 
singular  order  amounting  practically  to  a  juggling  of  weights  in  favor  of  the  govern- 
ment was  issued  under  the  date  of  June  7,  1907. 

Under  the  date  of  March  2,  1907,  the  following  order  was  issued: 

"When  the  weight  of  mail  is  taken  on  the  railway  routes,  the  whole  number  of  days 
the  mails  are  weighed  shall  be  used  as  a  divisor  for  obtaining  the  weight  per  day." 

But  under  date  of  June  7,  1907,  a  surprising  order  was  issued  reading  as 
follows : 

"When  the  weight  of  mail  is  taken  on  railway  routes,  the  whole~number  of  days  in. 
eluded  in  the  weighing  period  should  be  used  as  a  divisor  for  obtaining  the_average  weight 
per  day." 

Certainly  this  is  a  startling  change  of  methods  on  the  part  of  a  government 
which  has  been  attempting  to  establish  a  high  standard  of  integrity  in  the  conduct 
of  all  business.  Slight  as  the  difference  in  the  wording  of  the  two  orders  may  seem 
upon  a  casual  reading,  the  actual  effect  is  drastic.  Under  the  order  of  March  2, 
1907,  the  total  amount  of  mail  weighed  to  obtain  the  average  daily  weight  was 
to  be  divided  by  the  total  number  of  days  on  which  it  was  handled.  Surely 
there  could  be  no  oilier  fairer  basis  of  determining  the  average  weight.  But  under 
date  of  June  7,  1907,  the  system  of  weighing  was  changed,  so  that  to  determine 
the  daily  average  weight  of  mail  the  total  weight  should  be  divided,  not  by  the 
number  of  days  on  which  it  was  weighed,  but  by  the  whole  number  of  days  in- 
cluded in  the  weighing  period  irrespective  of  whether  mails  were  handled  daily 
during  the  whole  period  or  not.  As  a  matter  of  fact  in  many  cases  they  were  not, 
and  this  arbitrary  "change  of  divisor,"  as  it  is  called,  further  reduced  the  pay  of  the 
railroads  for  the  transportation  of  mails  by  about  12  per  cent  in  addition  to  the 
reductions  above  mentioned  which  congressional  committees  had  previously  char- 
acterized as  unfair. 

There,  now.  Is  not  that  profoundly  and  beautifully  conclusive  ? 
The  strictures,  hard  and  unjust  regulations  and  abitrary  impositions 
of  the  government  in  the  matter  of  railway  mail  weights  is  working 
great  wrong  to  the  roads ;  is,  in  fact,  so  cutting  into  their  earnings  as  to 
jeopardize  their  solvency  or  to  force  them  to  raise  freight  and  passen- 
ger rates  in  ordei  to  continue  business. 

Very  sad,  very  sad,  indeed !  And  how  unjust  it  is  for  the  Post- 
master General  so  to  cut  down  railway  mail  pay  as  possibly  to  cut 


288  POSTAL    RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS. 

down  the  dividends  the  railroads  have  been  paying  the  "widows  and 
orphans"  who  own  stock  in  the  roads — stocks  and  bonds  aggregating 
two  or  three  times  their  tangible  value.  Especially  wrong  was  it  for 
the  Postmaster  General  to  issue  and  enforce  such  drastic  orders  after 
"congressional  committees"  had  declared  any  reduction  of  the  weight- 
pay  rate  "unfair." 

I  shall  not  impose  on  the  reader  any  extended  discussion  or 
consideration  of  the  quoted  bubble  talk.  A  few  comments  I  will 
make —  comments  which  it  is  hoped  will  peel  off  sufficient  of  the 
rhetorical  coloring  to  let  the  reader  see  at  least  enough  of  the  real 
subject  (the  points  involved),  as  will  enable  him  to  make  a  robust 
and  correct  guess  at  the  "ground-plan"  of  both  the  sub  and  the  super- 
structure the  railway  talkers  and  speakers  are  trying  to  erect. 

First:  Every  right-minded  citizen  should — and  when  he  rightly 
understands  the  matter,  I  believe,  will — give  the  Postmaster  General 
unstinted  praise  and  commendation  for  the  issuance  and  enforcement 
of  the  two  orders  which  the  railway  men  quote  and  complain  about. 

Second:  The  rail  people  say  the  last  order  (see  quotation), 
"reduced  the  pay  of  the  railroads  by  about  12  per  cent." 

Without  questioning  the  veracity  of  the  gentlemen  under  whose 
"authority"  that  statement  is  made,  The  Man  on  the  Ladder,  as  a 
judgmental  precaution,  shall  line  up  with  the  folks  "from  Missouri" 
until  that  12  per  cent  is  set  forth  in  fuller  relief — until  he  is  shown. 
The  reader  will  observe  that  the  railroad  authorities  quoted  merely 
say  that  the  "arbitrary  change  of  divisor  further  reduced  the  pay  of 
the  railroads."  Whether  or  not  the  pay  received  by  the  roads  before 
that  order  was  issued  was  too  low,  low  enough  or  too  high  is  not 
directly  stated  by  the  writer  or  writers.  That  it  is  designed  to  have 
the  reader  draw  the  conclusion  that  the  rate  was  low  enough  or  too 
low  before  that  second  order  was  issued  is  made  evident  by  the  refer- 
ence to  the  expressed  opinions  of  "congressional  committees" - 
opinions  to  the  effect  that  the  "reductions"  forced  by  the  first  order 
were  "unfair." 

Third :  The  names  of  many  men  of  both  ability  and  of  integrity 
have  appeared  upon  the  rosters  of  the  Committees  on  Postoffices 
and  Postroads  of  both  the  Senate  and  the  House  during  the  past  forty 
years.  In  face  of  that  fact  stands  forth  in  bold  relief  a  fact  so  bare 
and  bald — and  so  suggestive  of  wrongs  done  and  doing  by  the  rail 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  289 

people  —as  to  remove  it  from  the  field  of  serious  debate.  That  fact  is : 
For  forty  or  more  years  the  railroad  men  and  allied  interests 
have  by  lobbies,  or  other  persuasive  means,  got  the  Congressional 
Committees  (Senate,  House  and  joint),  to  do  about  what  they 
wanted  done  in  the  matter  of  rail  carriage  and  pay  for  handling  the 
mails,  or  to  prevent  the  committees  from  doing  things  they  did  not 
want  done. 

Fourth :  That  "change  of  divisor,"  covered  in  the  order  of  June 
27,  1907,  and  which  these  railroad  men  accuse  of  causing  a  shrinkage 
of  12  per  cent  in  the  mail-weight  pay  the  roads  were  receiving  under 
the  order  of  March  2,  1907,  and  prior,  possibly  was  based  on  some 
valid  reasons  or  grounds,  or  upon  grounds  the  then  Postmaster 
General  believed  to  be  valid.  I  have  not  before  me,  at  the  moment, 
any  written  data  or  information  as  to  the  reasons  assigned  by  the 
postal  authorities  for  that  "change  of  divisor",  or  whether  they  as- 
signed any  reasons  for  the  order  making  the  change.  I  know, 
however,  of  one  very  good  reason  there  was  for  making  such  a  change 
on  several  railroads  or  divisions  of  roads. 

The  weighing  of  the  mails  was  formerly  made  during  a  period  of 
90  to  105  days,  or  fifteen  weeks,  once  every  four  years.  The  law 
now  permits  the  Postoffice  Department  to  make  special  weighings,  I 
believe.  On  the  average  daily  mail  weight  for  those  105  days  the 
postal  department  based  its  contract  with  the  roads  for  carrying  the 
mails  for  four  years. 

Now  notice  this :  The  terms  of  such  contracts  not  only  implied 
but  specifically  required  a  daily  carriage  of  the  mail  weight  for  the 
number  of  days  designated,  allowing,  of  course,  for  wrecks,  washouts 
and  other  unavoidable  interruptions  in  the  movements  of  trains. 

Keeping  that  in  mind,  suppose  the  Postmaster  General  dis- 
covered that  on  a  good  many  mail  runs — "lines"  or  "half -lines" 
— suppose  that  the  chief  of  the  department  discovered  a  condition  on 
many  mail  runs  similar  to  that  I  personally  know  to  have  existed 
on  a  few,  in  years  1907  and  prior.  That  was,  briefly  stated,  this: 

The  contract  called  for  a  daily  carriage  of  so  much  mail  weight 
and  the  government  paid  for  that  per  diem  carriage,  the  days  of  un- 
avoidable interferences  and  interruptions  included.  Suppose  that 
the  post-office  authorities  discovered  that,  by  reason  of  the  diversion 
of  the  mails  to  other  lines,  the  daily  mail  service  was  not  rendered ; 


290  POSTAL  RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

or  discovered,  as  in  at  least  one  instance  I  discovered,  that  the  con- 
tracting road  (or  roads)  gave  little  consideration  to  the  daily  service 
clause  save  during  the  weighing  period,  dropping  the  mail  from  train — 
skipping  a  day's  service — whenever  it  was  to  their  interests  to  do  so, 
and  often  assigning  the  most  flimsy  reasons  for  so  doing  or  assigning 
no  reasons  at  all? 

That  order  of  June  7,  1907,  would  have  a  tendency  to  stop  that 
sort  of  disrespect  and  abuse  of  contract  stipulations,  would  it  not  ? 

Fifth:  The  writer  of  the  article  from  which  we  have  quoted 
appears  to  have  got  himself  somewhat  twisted  in  his  consideration  of 
that  order  of  March  2,  1907.  It  seems  that  (see  first  paragraph  of 
quotation)  he  would  have  the  reader  class  it  among  those  several 
forced  reductions  which  "various  government  committees"  had  called 
unjust.  But,  further  along,  it  is  stated  that  "surely  there  could  be  no 
other  fairer  basis  of  determining  the  average  weight"  than  that  furn- 
ished in  that  order  of  March  2. 

I  wonder  why  the  railroad  lobby  so  strenuously  opposed  that 
order  of  March,  1907 — connived  and  schemed  for  its  rescinding,  until 
the  order  of  June  7,  1907,  gave  the  gang  of  corruptionists  something 
still  more  objectionable  to  the  interests  they  served?  Yes,  I  wonder 
why  they  so  hotly  opposed  that  order  of  March  2  ?  If  there  could  be 
"no  other  fairer  basis  of  determining  the  average  weight"  in  June, 
1911  (the  publication  date  of  the  article  from  which  we  have  quoted), 
why  was  it  not  fair  in  March,  1907  ?  And  why  was  it  not  a  fair  and  just 
basis  for  arriving  at  the  average  daily  mail  weights  for  many  weighing 
periods  prior  to  1907?  Did  anyone  ever  hear  any  railwayman  advo- 
cating the  "fair  basis"  provided  in  that  order  of  March?  Most 
certainly  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  never  heard  of  such  advocacy.  The 
railway  people  did  not  advocate  such  a  "fair"  method  of  ascertaining 
the  average  daily  mail  weight  their  roads  carried  during  a  period  of 
fifteen  weeks — or  during  any  other  period — because  they  were  bene- 
ficiaries of  some  very  unfair  methods  and  practices  which  gave  them 
pay  for  mail  weights  their  roads  did  not  carry. 

As  I  refer  later  to  some  of  the  practices  indulged  in  the  weighing 
periods,  I  will  here  mention  only  a  method  used  for  years  prior  to  the 
issuance  of  that  order  in  March,  1907 — a  method  of  arriving  at  the 
"average  daily  weight"  for  the  carriage  of  which  the  railroad  was  to  be 
paid  for  a  period  of  four  years.  That  method  was,  though  I  have  been 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  291 

unable  to  learn  that  it  was  ever  officially  authorized  by  the  Postoffice 
Department,  to  find  the  daily  average  for  each  week  covered  in  the 
weighing  period  and  then  arrive  at  the  average  for  the  whole  period 
by  dividing  the  sum  of  the  weekly  averages  by  the  number  of  weeks  in 
which  the  mail  was  weighed. 

Nothing  wrong  with  that  is  there?  Should  work  out  fair  and 
square,  should  it  not?  Well,  it  did  not.  The  method  was  all  right 
in  theory  and  in  letter,  but  a  crooked  practice  was  worked  into  its 
application — worked  into  it  by  collusion  between  crooked  railway 
and  public  officials.  And  the  crookedness  of  the  practice  was  very 
plain  and  bold  and  bald.  It  was  what  in  street  parlance  would  be 
called  "raw."  Here  it  is  in  figures: 

Take  a  "heavy"  mail  line.  Say  the  total  mail  weight  for  a  week 
was,  using  a  round  figure,  840,000  pounds  or  420  tons.  Now  dividing 
that  total  by  7,  the  number  of  days  in  a  week  and  the  number  of  days 
also  on  which  the  mail  was  weighed,  would  give  a  daily  average  of 
120,000  pounds,  or  60  tons.  That  is  all  clear  and  straight,  is  it  not? 
Most  certainly  it  is. 

But  the  crooked  application  of  the  method  divided  the  week's 
total  by  6  instead  of  by  7 — divided  the  total  of  seven  days'  weights 
by  six.  The  railway  people,  you  see,  were  great  respecters  of  the 
Sabbath.  They  would  run  trains  on  Sunday  to  accommodate  the 
public  and  to  meet  the  necessities  of  their  business,  which  was,  and  is, 
perfectly  proper.  They  would  also  carry  the  mails  for  your  Uncle 
Sam,  which  was  also  right  and  proper.  But  their  lofty  respect  for 
the  Holy  Sabbath,  or  the  high  esteem  in  which  they  held  our  much 
loved  and  much  abused  Uncle,  was  such  as  induced  them  to  hold  up 
said  Uncle  as  a  respecter  of  the  Sabbath,  or  seventh  day,  while  they 
"held  him  up"  in  averaging  his  mail  weights. 

In  the  illustrative  example  we  have  put  on  the  slate,  the  "hold 
up"  would  amount  to — let's  see :  840,000  pounds,  or  420  tons,  divided 
by  6  gives  us  70  tons  as  the  daily  average  for  the  week,  instead  of  60 
tons,  as  the  actual  average  was.  That  is  a  "hold  up"  for  pay  for  ten 
tons  a  day — for  10  tons  not  carried. 

"What  did  the  hold-up  amount  to  in  cash?" 

Yes,  it  might  be  well  to  follow  our  hypothetical  or  illustrative 
example  to  its  cash  terminal.  Well,  that  is  easily  and  quickly  done. 

The  rate  of  pay  per  ton  mile  per  year  on  daily  weights  above 


292  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

2i  tons  is  $21.37.*  That  ten  tons  added  to  the  daily  average  would 
give  to  the  railroads,  then,  just  $213.70  in  unearned  cash  each  day. 

If  the  contract  stood  for  full  four  years  on  such  false  average,  the 
railroad  would  pull  down  just  1,460  times  $213.70  of  unearned  money 
or  a  total  of  $312,002  in  the  four  years. 

I  would,  of  course,  not  have  the  reader  understand  that  our 
hypothetical  example  would  fit  all  railroads.  Many,  in  fact  most, 
of  the  mail-carrying  roads  average  in  mail  weight  much  below  sixty 
tons  per  day — even  below  ten  tons  per  day.  Some  roads  were  and 
are  paid  for  an  average  above  sixty  tons.  Nor  would  I  have  the  reader 
understand  that  the  crooked  practice  just  mentioned  was  common  to 
all  mail-carrying  roads.  There  were  possibly — yes,  probably,  some 
exceptions — some  roads  that  carried  so  little  mail  as  not  to  make  a 
steal  of  a  sixth  of  its  weight-pay  worth  while. 

I  would,  however,  have  the  reader  understand  that  I  mean  to 
assert  that  most  of  the  mail-carrying  roads  were  parties  to  the  crooked 
method  here  described  and  that  the  hypothetical  figures  here  given 
applied,  proportionally,  to  any  average  per  diem  weight  of  mail 
covered  in  the  carriage  contract,  whether  it  was  one  ton  or  a  hundred 
tons. 

I  would  also  have  the  reader  understand  me  to  assert  that,  so  far 
as  information  has  reached  me,  no  railroad  man,  or  man  representing 
the  rail  mail-carrying  interests,  ever  questioned  the  "fairness"  of  the 
crooked  practice  just  described — a  practice  which  looted  the  govern- 
ment of  millions  of  dollars. 

As  a  raider  into  postal  revenues,  this  thieving  practice,  it  must 
be  admitted,  deserves  conspicuous  mention — more  extended  notice 
than  I  have  given  it. 

*The  rate  1907  and  prior.  Now  the  rate  is  $20.30  for  tonnages  between  2i  and  24 
tons  and  819.24  for  each  ton  above  24  tons. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

RAIDERS    MASKED    BY    CIVIL    SERVICE. 

One  other  raid  into  the  postal  revenues  I  must  notice  before 
passing  to  a  consideration  of  the  parcels  post  question,  in  which 
consideration  of  other  raids  and  raiders  will  be  mentioned. 

Here  I  desire  to  refer  to  that  band  of  raiders — thousands  in 
number — who  are  carried  on  the  payrolls  of  the  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment— carried  at  salaries  ranging  into  the  thousands  in  many  cases — 
and  who  do  little  or  nothing  of  service  value  for  the  money  paid  them. 

The  Postoffice  Department  is  a  large  institution  and  does  a  big 
business — a  huge  business  which  has  much  detail  and  extends  over  a 
vast  territory.  To  handle  such  a  business  properly,  necessarily 
requires  the  service  of  a  large  force  of  operatives.  Most  of  the  work 
of  the  department  is  of  that  sort  which  human  brain  and  muscle  alone 
can  do.  The  machine  can  touch  but  a  few  of  the  minor  details  of  the 
vast  amount  of  work  our  Postoffice  Department  handles.  It  may 
cancel  stamps,  perforate  documents,  etc.,  but  it  cannot  collect,  sort, 
distribute,  carry  and  deliver  mail.  It  requires  human  muscle  and 
brains  to  do  such  work.  Much  of  it  requires  skill  —  the  trained  eye 
and  hand  as  well  as  academic  knowledge. 

Well,  the  Postoffice  Department  employs  a  large  force — a  vast 
army  of  men,  and  some  women,  I  believe.  Counting  the  employes  in 
its  legal,  purchasing  and  inspection  divisions  with  the  postmasters, 
assistant  postmasters,  railway  and  office  clerks,  city  and  rural  carriers, 
messengers,  etc.,  there  must  be  somewhere  around  330,000  people 
employed  in  our  federal  postal  service. 

Whether  that  is  too  large  or  too  small  a  force  for  the  proper 
handling  of  our  postal  service  is  beyond  my  purpose  here  to  discuss. 
That  the  business  now  handled  by  the  department  could  be  far  better 
handled  by  330,000  employes  than  it  now  is,  and  that  such  a  service 
force  could,  if  properly  directed  and  disciplined,  handle  a  business 
much  larger  than  that  now  transacted  by  the  department,  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  assert.  I  base  that  assertion  chiefly  on  the  following 
observed  conditions : 

First :    There  are  frills  and  innovations  in  handling  the  business 

293 


294  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

which  take  up  the  time  of  employes  and  which  have  little  or  no 
service  value. 

Second:  There  is,  not  too  much  "politics,"  as  Mr.  Hitchcock 
and  his  immediate  predecessors  have  modestly  but  wrongfully  called 
it,  but  too  much  political  partisanship — dirty,  grafting,  thieving, 
partisanship — not  only  in  the  appointment  of  people  to  the  service, 
but  also  in  making  partisan,  often  grafting,  crooked  use  of  them  after 
appointment. 

Third:  There  are  too  many  non-producers — non-service  pro- 
ducers— among  that  army  of  330,000. 

It  is  the  last,  or  third,  condition  named  that  I  shall  here  briefly 
consider,  or  such  observed  phases  of  it  as,  in  my  judgment,  so  trench 
into  the  postal  revenues  as  not  only  amounts  to  a  raid  in  itself,  but 
which  also  encourages  others  to  graft  and  loot. 

First,  I  desire  to  say  that  there  are  many  thousands  in  that 
postal  service,  many  who  are  honest,  faithful  and  competent  workers. 
There  are  about  seventy  thousand  (69,712  according  to  the  depart- 
ment's report  for  1910)  carriers,  city  and  rural,  most  of  whom  work 
industriously  and  efficiently  and  who  are  underpaid  for  the  service 
they  render. 

There  are  about  50,000  clerks  employed.  Of  these,  the  1909-10 
report  says,  16,795  are  railway  clerks.  Quoting  the  same  report, 
there  were  33,047-  postoffice  clerks  in  the  service.  All  or  nearly  all 
of  these  are  employed  in  the  "Presidential"  postoffice — offices  of  the 
first,  second  and  third  classes.  Of  the  total  number  of  clerks,  31,825, 
are  employed  in  offices  of  the  first  and  second  classes.  There  were 
424  offices  of  the  first  class  and  1,828  of  the  second.  That  placed  the 
service  of  31,825  clerks  in  2,252  offices.  The  report  (1909-10),  from 
which  these  figures  are  taken  states  5,373  as  the  number  of  third- 
class  offices.  The  remainder  of  the  reported  number  of  clerks  (1,222) 
are,  it  is  presumed,  distributed  among  those  5,373  third-class  offices. 
At  any  rate,  in  the  statement  of  expenditures  for  the  fiscal  year 
ended  June  30,  1910,  the  Second  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  Mr. 
Stewart,  presents  the  following  showing  of  expenditures  as  com- 
pensation to  clerks: 
Clerks  in  first  and  second-class  postoffices  (31,825).  .$31,583,587.37 

Clerks  in  third-class  postoffices,  lower  grade 540,891.31 

Clerks  in  third-class  postoffices,  upper  grade 663,632.20 


POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  295 

The  lower  grade  of  third-class  postoffices  comprise  those  which 
yield  the  postmasters  an  annual  income  ranging  from  $1,000  to  $1,500 
and  the  higher  grades  are  those  with  a  compensation  of  $1,600  to 
$1,900  to  the  postmasters.  In  this  connection,  it  should  be  noted 
that  for  the  fiscal  year  there  was  paid,  in  addition  to  the  amounts 
above  named,  the  sum  of  $325,953.44  for  what  are  called  "temporary" 
a.nd  "substitute"  clerks. 

Adding  these  various  sums  gives  a  total  of  $33,114,064.32  paid 
for  clerk  hire  for  clerks  in  first,  second  and  third-class  offices — in  the 
"Presidential  postoffice,"  or  offices  to  which  the  President  has,  by 
law  or  otherwise,  been  granted  or  permitted  the  right  to  appoint  the 
postmasters. 

As  previously  stated,  there  is  a  total  of  7,625  Presidential  post- 
offices  on  the  payrolls  of  which  are  carried  the  names  of  33,047  clerks. 
In  addition  to  these  are  16,795  railway  postal  clerks.  Beyond  saying 
that  the  appointment  and  advancement  of  these  last-mentioned 
clerks  have  been  in  the  past — and  yet  are — largely  influenced  by 
assistant  postmaster  generals,  superintendents  and  other  chiefs  of 
division  in  the  Washington  or  department  office  and  by  Senators, 
Congressmen  and  postmasters  in  offices  of  the  first  and  second-classes, 
I  shall  not  consider  them  further  here,  nor  do  I  include  them  in  the 
adverse  criticisms  I  shall  make  of  the  clerical  force  and  service  of  the 
department. 

It  should,  however,  be  noted  in  this  connection  that  in  addition 
to  the  31,825  clerks  employed  in  the  2,252  offices  of  the  first  and 
second  classes,  there  are  2,237  assistant  postmasters.  These  were 
paid  $2,536,997.24  for  the  year  ended  June  30th,  1910.  There  were 
in  offices  of  the  first  and  second-classes  2,252  postmasters.  To  these 
was  paid  the  sum  of  $5,814,300.  That  makes  the  service  personnel 
of  the  first  and  second  class  offices,  not  counting  carriers,  messengers, 
etc.,  36,314,  and  gives  a  total  of  annual  expenditures  for  this  service 
amounting  to  $40,465,361.56. 

The  reader  will  please  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  foregoing 
figures  apply  only  to  postoffices  of  the  first  and  second-classes. 
There  may  be  a  few  clerks  and  also  assistant  postmasters  in  offices  of 
the  third-class.  If  so,  there  are  so  few  of  them  that  the  department 
did  not  deem  it  worth  while  to  account  for  them  in  that  position  in 
any  of  its  fiscal  statements,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  find.  I 


296  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

would  ask  the  reader  also  to  bear  in  mind  that  while  the  following 
strictures  are  intended  to  apply  to  all  three  classes  of  Presidential 
postoffices,  their  application  is  less  general  and  less  forceful  in  offices 
of  the  second  than  in  offices  of  the  first  class,  and  less  in  offices  of  the 
third-class  than  in  either  of  the  two  higher  class  offices. 

There  has  been  much  talk  by  Postmaster  Generals  in  recent  years 
about  efforts  made  and  making  to  get  the  employes  of  the  Postoffice 
Department  into  the  classified  service — getting  them  under  civil 
service  protection.  Not  only  has  this  been  made  subject  of  urgent 
advocacy  in  almost  every  annual  department  report  of  recent  years, 
but  Postmaster  Generals  have  made  prolix  and  voluble  reference  to 
and  favorable  comment  upon  the  progress  that  has  been  made  in 
"taking  the  department  out  of  politics."  Mr.  Hitchcock  in  the  1909- 
10  report  commends  highly  the  progress  made  in  that  direction.  See 
pages  13,  14,  24,  85,  86  and  others  of  the  report.  The  party  stump 
and  banquet  oratory  of  the  past  twelve  or  more  years  has  sparkled — 
fairly  scintillated  it  might  be  said — with  rhetorical  corruscations 
about  what  "the  administration  has  done"  to  remove  the  federal 
service  from  the  "baleful  clutch  and  influence  of  politics." 

Now  do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  am  not  saying  this  because 
the  Republicans  have  been  in  control  of  things.  Had  Democrats 
been  at  the  helm  of  the  national  craft,  they  would  have  done  the 
same.  The  Democratic  politicians  might  have  done  more  or  less 
than  the  Republicans  have  done  to  get  the  civil  service  of  the  govern- 
ment away  from  corrupt  and  corrupting  partisan  influences.  The 
Republicans  have  done  only  what  they  have  been  compelled  to  do — 
compelled  by  general  public  demand.  So  the  Democrats  would  have 
done,  had  they  been  in  power.  Politicians  do  not  want  a  civil  service 
free  from  party  control.  The  "jobs"  have  been  and  are  a  source 
both  of  spoils  and  of  continued  power  to  the  so-called  "practical" 
politician  of  either  party — of  any  political  party.  That  is  why  the 
party  leaders — "bosses" — fight  so  persistently  and  craftily  to  retain 
control  of  the  civil  jobs.  That  is  why  almost  every  civil  service  law 
or  "executive  order"  for  placing  civil  employes  under  a  merit  or 
efficiency  classification  carries  a  "joker"  somewhere  about  its  clothes. 
That  is  true  of  most  all  such  laws  and  orders  so  far  enacted  or  issued, 
whatever  be  their  field  of  application — city,  county,  state  or  nation. 

So  I  desire  the  reader  to  understand  that  there  is  no  political 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  297 

or  party  animus  in  what  I  may  say  in  adverse  criticism  of  the  jokes 
and  jokers  which  so  conspicuously  decorate  the  Republican  display  of 
effort  to  place  federal  postal  employes  under  classified  civil  service 
and  which,  it  is  said,  "has  taken  them  out  of  politics  and  will  keep  them 
out."  The  Man  on  the  Ladder  believes  in  civil  service,  but  he  does 
not  believe  in  either  legislative  or  executive  "jokers"  which,  under 
the  guise  and  pretense  of  establishing  a  protected  merit  classification 
of  public  servants,  makes  stealthy  crooks  and  turns  to  keep  their  own 
partisans  on  the  jobs,  regardless  of  either  their  ability,  merit  or  fitness. 

Now  let  us  return  to  our  subject — to  the  points  which  make 
much  if  not  most  of  the  alleged  "progress"  in  the  postal  department 
toward  the  institution  of  a  merit  classification  of  its  office  employes 
but  little  more  than  a  move  on  lines  to  keep  administration  partisans 
on  postal  service  jobs,  and  which  makes  this  much-talked  of  progress 
toward  efficiency  conserve  party  more  than  service  interests. 

But  some  readers  may  urge  that  this  is  mere  assertion.  Well, 
let  me  present  a  few  facts  and  conditions  which  support  the  assertions, 
or  which,  to  me,  seem  to  make  the  statements  assertions  of  fact. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  rightly  asserts  (page  13  of  1909-10  report)  "that 
the  highest  degree  of  effectiveness  in  the  conduct  of  this  tremendous 
business  establishment  cannot  be  attained  while  the  thousands  of 
postmasters,  on  whose  faithfulness  so  much  depends,  continue  to  be 
political  appointees.  The  entire  postal  service  should  be  taken  out 
of  politics." 

Well  and  good.  Following  the  foregoing,  he  mentions  the  fact 
that  all  assistant  postmasters  have  been  placed  in  the  classified 
service  by  order  of  the  President.  Mr.  Hitchcock,  "as  a  still  more 
important  reform,"  recommends  that  "Presidential  postmasters  of  all 
grades,  from  the  first  class  to 'the  third,  should  be  placed  in  the 
classified  service."  He  also  speaks  of  efforts  made  and  making  to 
place  the  fourth-class  postmasters  under  its  laws  and  regulations. 
He  points  out  some  valid  difficulties  to  be  surmounted  if  such  desired 
result  is  attained  without  impairment  rather  than  betterment  of  the 
service.  The  First  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  C.  P.  Granfield, 
states  in  his  report,  that,  under  an  executive  order  dated  November 
30,  1908,  all  fourth-class  postmasters  in  fourteen  states  have  been  put 
into  the  classified  service.  He  also  explains  briefly  the  method  of 
procedure  in  filling  vacancies — when  they  occur. 


298  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

That  is  probably  sufficient  preliminary.  Now  for  a  few  of  the 
observed  and  observable  conditions  which  govern  in  civil  service  as 
thus  far  applied  in  the  Postoffice  Department.  Taking  the  fourth- 
class  postmasters  first,  it  may  be  said  the  method  of  appointing  such 
postmasters  by  civil  service  examination  scarcely  rises  to  a  dignity 
entitling  it  to  serious  consideration.  While  the  method  itself  reads 
well,  its  application,  in  many  instances,  is  but  a  joke — a  tame  joke 
at  that.  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock  substantially  admits,  as 
previously  stated,  that  conditions  are  met  with  which  make  its 
application  extremely  difficult  if  not  quite  impossible. 

Certain  it  is  that,  so  far  as  applied,  the  results  have  given  a  vast 
majority,  if  not  all,  of  the  certifications  to  persons  of  administration 
party  affiliation. 

Then,  too,  it  might  be  asked  by  a  person  addicted  to  the  habit 
of  doing  his  own  thinking — a  habit  very  obnoxious  to  party  "leaders" 
and  to  politicians  of  the  so-called  "practical"  breed — it  might  be 
asked  by  any  capable,  independent  thinker,  if  it  was  mere  chance  that 
selected  twelve  administration  and  two  "doubtful" — chronically 
doubtful — states  in  which  first  to  make  application  of  a  civil  service 
method  to  the  selection  and  appointment  of  fourth-class  postmasters  ? 

While  there  are,  according  to  the  last  published  department 
report,  about  52,000  fourth-class  postmasters  in  the  country,  a  great 
majority  of  them  are  persons  of  little  or  no  local  political  influence. 
Beyond  their  own  votes,  then,  they  are  of  little  service  to  the  ad- 
ministration party,  save  as  distributing  or  disbursing  agents  of  the 
party  in  power  for  its  campaign  literature  and  other  promotion 
matter.  They  are  used  also  to  keep  the  county  and  state  "bosses" 
of  the  party  advised  of  local  political  conditions  as  they  view  them — 
flurries  in  the  party  atmosphere,  as  indicated  by  hitching-post  and 
whittling  discussions  of  party  legislation  and  proposed  legislation  or 
of  party  policies,  as  set  forth  by  the  published  utterances  of  state 
and  national  "leaders." 

In  such  and  other  minor  ways,  then,  the  fourth-class  postmaster 
may  be  a  helpful  instrument  in  the  retention  of  power  by  the  political 
party  in  power — the  party  from  which  he  has  received  appointment. 
So  it  is  good  "practical"  politics  to  keep  such  a  party  agent  on  the 
job.  To  that  end,  then,  the  party  in  power — the  administration — 
places  the  fourth-class  postmaster  in  the  classified  civil  service,  thus 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  299 

making  his  removal  more  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  in  case  an  oppos- 
ing party  should  win  out  at  the  polls  and  take  charge  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

The  foregoing  is  said,  of  course,  on  the  pre-supposition  that 
every  reader  knows  that  a  vast  majority  of  the  postmasters  and  other 
personnel  of  the  postal  service  today  is  of  the  political  party  in 
power.  In  saying  that  the  party  from  which  these  postmasters  and 
other  postal  service  employes  received  their  appointments  has  been 
and  is  using  a  civil  service  classification  largely,  if  not  wholly,  for 
partisan  ends.  I  say  only — in  fact  have  already  said — that  the 
Democratic  party  or  any  other  party  would,  if  in  national  control, 
make  similar  use  of  the  civil  classification.  And  such  partisan 
manipulation  of  a  merit  service  classification  will  continue  so  long 
as  we  fool  people  will  stand  for  or  permit  it. 

The  chief  "jokers"  woven  into  most  all  civil  service  laws  and 
executive  orders  are  these: 

First:  The  law  or  "order"  directing  the  application  of  a 
classification  of  a  service  into  certain  grades,  places  those  holding 
positions  at  the  time  of  the  enforcement  of  such  law  or  order,  into 
the  various  grades  without  any  examination  as  to  their  merit  or  efficiency. 

Second:  Such  laws  and  orders  almost  universally  provide  a 
promotion  or  advancement  credit  for  "experience,"  and  the  only  fac- 
tor or  element  recognized  in  the  make-up  of  experience  is  time.  The 
number  of  years  an  employe  has  been  on  his  job  or  in  the  service  is 
his  "experience." 

Third:  Such  civil  service  laws  or  orders  always  provide  for 
examinations — usually  an  "entrance"  and  "promotional" — and  for 
"examiners."  Seldom  is  anything  said  as  to  the  qualifications  of 
the  persons  selected  as  examiners.  Their  selection  is  invariably  left 
to  a  "Civil  Service  Commission,"  and  the  membership  of  such 
commission  is  as  invariably  left  to  partisan  appointment.  There  is 
usually  a  pretense  of  making  such  commissions  "non-partisan," 
that  is,  one  of  three  or  two  of  five  of  the  appointed  commissioners  are 
to  be  of  the  minority  party.  Nevertheless,  they  are  all  appointed  by 
the  majority  party — the  party  in  power. 

All  three  of  these  "jokers"  are  in  the  government  civil  service 
laws  and  the  extension  of  those  laws  to  the  various  divisions  of  the 
federal  civil  service  is  left  largely  or  wholly  subject  to  the  orders  of  the 


300  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

President.  I  object  to  a  classified  merit  service  under  such  statutory 
"jokers."  They  provide  a  service  more  partisan  than  efficient. 
They  permit  a  payroll  raid  upon  the  revenues  from  which  employes 
are  paid.  They  retain  incompetent,  inefficient  persons  in  graded 
positions  for  partisan  purposes — often  "grafting"  purposes — rather 
than  for  service  reasons.  They  leave  the  promotion  or  advancement 
of  honest,  industrious  and  competent  employes  largely,  if  not  wholly, 
subject  to  the  will,  wish  and  whim  of  a  partisan  appointed  or  elected 
superior  or  to  a  partisan  civil  service  commission.  They  provide  for 
advancement  on  an  "experience" — a  time  service — which  may  not, 
and  which  in  many  cases  does  not,  constitute  an  experience  of  any 
value  whatsoever  to  the  service. 

I  have  said  that  the  office  personnel  of  the  government's  postal 
service  embraces  a  large  number — thousands — of  raiders  on  the  postal 
revenues.  I  repeat  that  assertion  here. 

Most  of  these  raiders  occupy  the  higher  salaried  positions — 
postmasters  of  the  "Presidential"  classes,  assistant  postmasters, 
chief  clerks  and  others  who  secured  their  positions  through  partisan 
"pull"  or  "drag."  These  do  little  work  of  service  value  for  the 
salaries  paid  them.  Many  of  them  are  so  occupied  with  affairs  of 
their  party  that  they  have  little  time  for  service  work  even  if  they  were 
inclined  to  do  it.  Most  of  them  are  not  so  inclined.  Many  of  these 
raiders  know  of — some  of  them  have  been  parties  to — railway  mail- 
weight,  contract  and  other  raids  upon  the  department  they  are 
supposed  to  serve. 

But  this  is  only  generalization,  some  one  may  say.  In  answer  I 
say  kick  off  your  blanket  of  apathy.  Go  do  a  little  investigating 
and  then  do  a  little — just  a  little — hard  thinking.  See  what  you  shall 
see  in  even  such  a  modest  effort  to  put  two  and  two  together.  Visit 
a  "Presidential"  postoffice  in  your  county,  preferably  the  one  at  the 
county  seat  or  the  one  at  the  capital  or  at  the  metropolis  of  your  state. 
These  cities  are  the  storm  centers  of  partisan  activity,  likewise  of 
partisan  manipulations,  bubble  and  crookedness.  If  you  know  the 
postmaster,  so  much  the  better.  If  you  are  of  the  same  party  affili- 
ation as  the  postmaster,  still  better.  If  you  are  not,  do  not  let  that 
deter  you.  You  visit  him  to  see  things  for  yourself,  and  an  investigat- 
or is  not  only  warranted  but  fully  justified  in  appearing  to  be  what 
he  is  not.  Fix  upon  some  subject  of  inquiry  before  you  reach  the 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  301 

"presence"  CHI  that  particular  "Presidential"  P.O.  throne.  Then  ,with 
ears  spread  and  eyes  shrewdly  as  well  as  interestedly  open,  go  to  it. 

The  postmaster  will  be  glad  to  see  you  if  he  knows  you.  If  he 
does  not  know  you,  he  will  be  assumedly  glad  to  see  you  anyway, 
after  he  learns  where  you  are  from  and  that  you  have  an  in-grown 
habit  of  voting  the  ticket  of  his  party.  He  may  even  warm  up  to  the 
extent  of  tendering  a  box  of  his  favorite  brand  with  an  invitation  to 
smoke  up.  Then  he  will  probably  want  to  know  "how  things  look 
up  your  way."  It  does  not  make  much  difference  how  or  what  you 
answer,  so  long  as  it  is  favorable  to  "the  party."  He  is  handing  you 
a  case-hardened  jolly.  You  must  be  gentleman  enough  to  return  the 
courtesy.  "I  know  you  are  a  very  busy  man,  Mr.  Jones,  and  I  must 
not  take  up  your  time.  I  want  a  little  information  and  decided  I 
would  come  to  the  right  place  to  get  it,"  etc.,  or  something  along  such 
lines  will  do. 

Then  ask  your  question  or  questions.  Preferably  let  tliem  be 
about  some  detail  or  details  in  the  handling  of  "the  large  business"  of 
his  office.  Now  you  will  begin  to  see  things. 

The- postmaster  will  press  a  buzzer  button.  In  response  a  well 
groomed  gentleman  appears  whom,  by  introduction,  you  learn  is  his 
assistant.  "Fred,"  says  the  postmaster,  "Mr.  Smith  here  desires 
some  information.  He  is  from  Brainville  and — well,  he  is  a  friend  of 
ours.  Now,  Mr.  Smith,"  with  a  real  "glad-hand"  shake,  "you  go  with 
Fred.  He'll  dig  up  any  information  you  want,  and,  now,  don't 
forget  to  call  on  me  the  next  time  you  are  in  town." 

Then  you  go  off  with  Fred.  He  sluices  a  lot  of  kiln-dried  small 
talk  at  you  and  rounds  out  with  "How  are  things  up  at  Brainville, 
Mr.  Smith?"  Of  course  you  assure  him  that  things  "look  good"  to 
you,  or  that,  in  your  opinion  "there  will  be  nothing  to  it  but  counting 
our  majority."  By  this  time  Fred  has  steered  you  to  the  chief  clerk. 
To  the  latter  he  says,  "Here,  Baker,  shake  hands  with  Mr.  Smith. 
Mr.  Smith  lives  up  at  Brainville  and  is  one  of  our  friends.  He  wants 
some  information.  You  see  that  he  gets  it  will  you?" 

Fred,  then,  with  another  ingratiating  hand  shake,  leaves  you  in 
Mr.  Baker's  care.  To  him  you  state  the  points  on  which  you  wish 
enlightenment.  "Oh,  I  see,"  says  Mr.  Baker.  "You  just  come  with 
me  and  I'll  have  you  fixed  out."  Then,  if  it  be  a  postoffice  of  fairly 
large  business,  he  will  take  you  over  to  some  chief  or  foreman  of 


302  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

division,  tells  him  what  you  desire  to  know  and  instructs  him  to 
inform  you.  The  division  boss  next  takes  you  in  tow  and  with  much 
pleased  and  pleasing  talk  steers  you  down  the  line  to  some  $900  or 
$1,200  a  year  clerk  to  whom  he  turns  you  over.  This  shirt-sleeved 
clerk  knows  the  answer  or  answers  and  gives  you  the  desired  infor- 
mation in  about  three  minutes. 

Incidentally  in  your  round  of  the  postoffice,  you  have  asked  some 
conventional  questions  and  have  learned,  among  other  things,  that 
the  assistant  postmaster,  chief  clerk,  division  chief  and  other  top- 
notchers  in  the  service  are  all  men  of  "experience" — have  each  been 
in  the  service  five  to  ten  years  and  "know  the  business  from  garret 
to  basement." 

Once  outside  or  on  your  way  home,  some  questions  will  begin 
swimming  a  marathon  in  your  think-tank.  Such  as  these  for  in- 
stance : 

"Did  those  topnotchers  really  know  the  business  of  their  office?" 

"If  they  did  know,  why  did  they  troll  you  around  for  an  hour  to 
get  information  which  a  shirt-sleeved  worker  gave  you  in  three 
minutes?" 

"If  they  did  not  know,  then  what  have  they  been  doing  during 
their  five  or  ten  years  of  service?" 

"If  they  know  so  much,  how  many  years  would  it  take  "Boob" 
Sikes  of  Boob  town  to  learn  as  little  as  they  appeared  to  know?" 

By  the  time  the  questions  begin  to  take  on  this  sort  of  "How  old 
is  Ann"  character,  you  will  have  reached  the  conclusion  that  you  have 
discovered  something  and  have  seen  things  to  prove  it. 

Just  here  it  may  be  pertinently  asked,  why  those  top-notchers  in 
that  postoffice  should  be  blanketed  by  the  stipulations  of  a  civil 
service  law  which  gives  them  merit  credits  and  grades  for  the  years 
they  have  been  in  the  service  ?  If  you  and  I  have  been  loafing  on  a 
job  for  five,  ten  or  more  years — been  foozling  with  the  duties  of  that 
job  while  heeling  and  fanning  for  a  political  party — why  should  the 
law  credit  those  years  to  us  as  service  "experience?" 

In  placing  any  service  or  a  division  of  any  service  under  a  merit 
classification,  the  law  should  require  that  every  position  in  such 
service  be  filled  by  examination,  and  such  examination  should  be  open 
alike  to  the  shirt-sleeved  employe  already  holding  a  position  in  such 
service  and  to  outsiders.  Such  a  requirement  would  show  what  of 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  303 

service  value  there  really  was  as  a  result  of  the  years  an  employe  had 
been  in  the  service. 

Do  you  ever  go  to  Washington,  D.  C.  ?  If  so,  the  next  time  you 
go,  take  in  one  or  more  of  the  main  divisions  of  the  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment. Some  guide  or  clerk  will  probably  be  detailed  to  steer  you 
through.  Your  pilot  will  talk  considerable  and  his  talk  will  listen 
well.  You  need  not,  however,  hear  all  nor  even  much  of  what  he 
says.  As  advised  in  your  visit  to  the  Presidential  postoffice,  keep 
both  your  ears  and  your  eyes  open  to  hear  and  see  what  the  service 
employes  say  and  do. 

You  will  observe  that  a  considerable  number  of  the  clerical  force 
are  doing  something — are  really  trying  to  work.  You  will  also 
discover  before  going  far  that  a  number  of  employes  are  industriously 
engaged  in  talking.  The  smiles  and  quiet  laughter  which  embellish 
their  conversation  may  lead  you  to  believe  that  they  are  talking  about 
some  of  the  humorous  incidents  and  features  of  the  postal  service. 
Do  not,  however,  be  hasty  in  arriving  at  such  conclusion.  If  you  get 
near  enough  to  hear  an  occasional  word,  you  may  discover  that  their 
conversation  is  evidently  about  something  which  a  humoresque 
writer  has  described  as  "  the  recently  distant  elsewhere,"  and  not 
about  the  department  service  at  all.  It  may  be  about  some  feature 
or  phase  of  Washington's  social  flux  or  about  some  social  function 
which  is  to  stake  a  temporary  claim  in  the  circle  in  which  the  talkers 
circulate.  In  short,  you  will  discover  that  the  conversation  is  but 
commercially  pasteurized  small-talk  and  not  business. 

Moving  on,  you  will  observe  other  little  groups  in  animated 
conversation.  A  glance  at  the  anaemic  appearance  of  some  of  the 
talkers  will  lead  you  to  the  immediate  and  sound  conclusion  that  the 
subject  of  conversation  cannot  be  weighty.  Politics,  even  party 
politics,  either  practical  or  progressive,  you  will  readily  see  would  be 
some  sizes  too  large  for  them.  Getting  within  hearing  range,  you  will 
learn  that  these  industrious  servants  of  the  people  are  discussing 
the  telling  points  in  some  prize  fight  "pulled  off"  the  night  before  or  of 
the  ball  game  which  some  one  or  more  of  the  coterie  had  seen  the  day 
before.  Maybe  some  one  of  the  group  is  turning  loose  his  stem-wind- 
ing, automatic  bloviate  ejector  in  telling  his  interested  auditors  about 
what  a  "ripping  time"  he  had  with  Rose  at  some  dance  or  othei 
party  last  night.  What  you  hear  will  be  sufficient  to  convince  you 


304  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

that  these  "classified  civil  service  employes"  must  put  in  considerable 
time  in  mental  and  physical  exertion  to  work  out  of  their  systems 
the  lessons  they  were  taught  at  mother's  knee,  and  much  more  of  their 
time  trying  to  keep  several  laps  behind  their  jobs.  You  will  also  see 
that  some  of  the  service  men  are  workers  —  real  workers — who  earn 
more  than  the  salaries  paid  them.  So,  too,  are  there  many  of  them 
whose  industry  should  make  a  more  or  less  conspicuous  service 
trench  into  four  or  five  dollars  a  day.  But  when  you  get  outside  or 
get  home,  you  will  remember  having  seen  numerous  supervising  and 
directing  heads  and  many  clerks  who  appeared  to  be  actually  tiring 
themselves  out  in  exertions  to  keep  away  from  work. 

Yes,  I  repeat,  the  Postomce  Department  carries  upon  its  pay- 
rolls too  many  non-producers  of  service  values — too  many  mere 
payroll-raiders  on  the  postal  revenues.  Putting  all  these  into  graded 
classified  service  and  under  the  protection  of  a  "joker "-ridden  law 
will  not  improve  the  actual  service — will  not  stop  the  raid  of  which  I 
have  been  writing. 

The  civil  service  of  the  government  and  subordinate  division  of 
it — city,  county  and  state — should  be  controlled  by  law,  not  by  polit- 
ical partisanship.  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  forcefully  right  in  what  he  says 
on  this  very  important  subject.  But  laws  providing  rules  and 
regulations  for  the  betterment  of  a  public  service  should  not  provide 
blind  alleys  and  trenches  through  which  dominating  party  officials 
and  "bosses"  may  so  easily  obstruct  or  balk  accomplishment  of  the 
purpose,  or  the  alleged  purpose,  of  the  law.  I  have  mentioned  three 
objectionable  features  common  to  nearly  all  civil  service  laws — to  all 
that  I  have  read.  There  are  other  objectionable  provisions  in  some 
of  the  laws.  I  am  not,  however,  intending  to  discuss  here  the  desir> 
ability  or  the  objections  to  civil  service,  either  as  it  is  or  as  it  should  be, 
save  in  so  far  as  the  present  federal  law  has  applied,  is  applied  and 
may  be  applied,  to  the  postal  service. 

I  have  tried  to  show  how  three  of  its  joker  provisions — only  three 
of  them,  mind  you — have  worked,  have  been  and  may  be  "worked," 
to  keep  party  henchmen  on  the  jobs  rather  than  to  secure  to  the 
people  industrious,  capable  and  efficient  servants.  Of  the  three  wire- 
tapping provisions  of  the  law  mentioned,  I  have  suggested  how  two 
of  them  might,  in  my  opinion  at  least,  be  remedied.  The  third  is  that 
of  leaving  it  an  easy  possibility  to  victimize  employes  through  the 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  305 

agencies  of  partisan  commissions  selected  to  enforce  or  administer 
the  law  and  of  incompetent,  biased  and  prejudiced  persons  such 
commissions  may  select  to  conduct  examinations  for  entrance  or 
promotions  in  the  service.  How  remedy  that? 

Having  civil  service  commissioners  elected,  instead  of  being 
selected  by  a  temporary  official  over-lord  would,  in  my  judgment,  go 
far  toward  correcting  the  abuses  which  now  flourish  so  luxuriously 
under  that  third  "joker"  provision  of  the  law. 

Any  service  embracing  a  considerable  number  of  persons  in  its 
execution,  must  be  closely  supervised  if  anything  approaching 
efficiency  is  attained  and  maintained.  An  old  German  saying  reads 
thus :  "The  eye  of  a  master  will  do  more  work  than  both  his  hands." 
If  value  is  secured  either  in  public  or  in  private  service,  the  people 
paid  for  delivering  it  must  be  kept  under  close  supervision — must  be 
kept  under  "the  eye  of  the  master."  A  consciousness  of  having 
earned  his  pay  should  enable  any  service  man,  whatever  his  position, 
to  shake  hands  with  himself  without  blushing  at  the  close  of  his  day's 
work.  But  if  his  superiors  set  him  an  example  in  loafing,  of  hitting 
the  nail  slack  while  on  duty,  most  men  will  soon  learn  not  only  how 
to  loaf  but  how  to  accept  any  amount  of  pay  for  services  not  rendered, 
and  accept  it,  too,  without  a  flicker  of  blush  or  jar  of  conscientious 
scruple. 

So  in  closing  our  consideration  of  this  phase  of  our  subject,  per- 
mit me  to  say  that  efficient  civil  service  will  never  be  attained — can 
never  be  attained — if  department,  division  and  other  supervising 
and  directing  heads  sit  at  their  desks  most  of  the  time,  approving 
documents  and  requisitions,  reading  reports  and  talking  politics. 
If  they  expect  men  under  them  to  work,  they  must  get  out  on  the  job 
where  they  expect  the  work  to  be  done,  and  that,  too,  whether  the 
job  be  in  the  office  or  in  the  field. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PARCELS  POST  RAIDERS. 

Anyone  who  attempts  to  give  our  parcels  post  service  anything 
like  careful,  studious  consideration  will,  at  the  very  outset  of  such 
consideration,  find  himself  confronted  by  a  number  of  bald  facts 
which,  when  fully  rounded  out  and  understood,  should  make  unneces- 
sary any  discussion  of  our  claim  that  we  need,  should  have  and  are  en- 
titled to  better  and  cheaper  service  than  that  we  now  have.  With- 
out attempting  any  immediate  discussion  of  these  facts,  I  desire  to 
present  them,  or  some  of  them,  to  the  reader's  consideration  just 
here  at  the  opening  of  our  discussion  of  the  subject.  The  desire  to 
do  this  is  prompted  by  a  hope  that  their  presentation  here  will 
induce  the  reader  to  think  of  their  significance  and  their  bearing  upon 
the  parcels  post  question  in  any  fair  discussion  of  it. 

Now  for  these  facts: 

1.  There  are  about  250,000  miles  of  railroad  in  this  country — 
more  than  the  aggregate  mileage  of  all  the  other  nations  of  earth. 

2.  The  capitalization  of  the  railroads  of  these  United  States  is 
now,  according  to  Poor's  Manual  of  Railroads,  the  universally  recog- 
nized   authority,     about    $18,800,000,000— Eighteen    billion    eight 
hundred  million  dollars! 

3.  That  capitalization  is  admittedly  twice  the  value  of  all  the 
tangible  values — trackage,  rolling  stock,  terminals,  shops  and  other — 
owned  by  the  roads.     In  many  instances  the  capitalization  of  a  road 
is  easily  three  times  the  value  of  its  tangible  property. 

4.  Most  of  these  railroads  were  built  with  borrowed  money, 
covered  by  bond  issues,  and  the  payment  of  the  bonds  met  from  the 
earnings  of  the  roads,  or  by  new  issues  of  bonds,  payment  of  which 
has  been,  or  it  is  intended  will  be,  met  from  earnings.     In  view  of 
this  method  of  financing  construction  and  equipment,  it  is  well 
known  in  informed  circles  that  the  present  capitalization  of  these 
railroads  is  ten  or  twelve  times  the  actual  cash  ever  invested  in  them — 
that  is,  cash  other  than  that  collected  from  the  people  for  freight, 
passenger,  and  other  service  rendered — rendered  at  rates  unscrupu- 
lously excessive.     Some  of  the  best  informed  people  have  gone  so  far 

306 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  307 

as  to  say  that  all  of  the  stock  and  a  considerable  part  of  the  bond 
capitalization  of  the  nation's  railroads  is  water. 

5.  There  are  a  number  of  express  companies  in  this  country. 
The  express  business  of  the  country,  however,  is  controlled  by  six 
companies — the  "Big  Six." 

6.  The  express  transportation  (land)  is  wholly  by  railroads. 
The  railroad  companies,  and  men  owning  large  or  controlling  interest 
in  railroads,  own  a  large  majority  of  the  "Big  Six"  stock  capitaliza- 
tion. 

7.  For  most  of  the  express  company  stock  owned  by  railroads, 
no  cash  consideration  whatsoever  was  given.     For  the  stock,  a  rail- 
road company  gave  to  some  express  company  a  monopoly  of  the 
express  business  on  its  line  or  system  of  lines  of  road. 

8.  The  express  companies,  in  addition  to  any  stock  bonus  they 
may  have  given  for  the  monopoly  of  the  express  business  on  a  rail 
line  or  system  of  lines,  pay  to  the  railroads  on  which  they  operate 
forty  to  fifty-eight  per  cent  of  the  gross  receipts  from  the  express  business 
handled. 

9.  The  railroads  furnish  cars  free  to  the  express  companies. 
They  also  furnish  depot  accommodations  and  facilities  for  storing 
and  handling  express  shipments.     In  some  instances,  as  much  as  90 
per  cent  of  the  handling  of  express  shipping  is  doue  by  railroad 
employes. 

10.  There  are  thirty-seven  directors  in  the  controlling  express 
companies.     Of  these,  thirty-two  are  also  directors  in  some  one  or 
more  railroad  companies  or  are  large  owners  of  railroad  stocks  and 
bonds. 

11.  Practically  no  cash  investment  whatsoever  was  ever  made 
in  establishing  or  organizing  an  express  company,  nor  in  equipment 
to  conduct  its  business.     Every  dollar  of  value  there  is  in  equipment 
and  other  tangible  assets  of  the  express  companies  today — and 
hundreds  of  millions  besides — has  come  from  the  people — has  been 
taken  from  the  people  for  handling  their  express  business  at  rates 
ranging  from  two  to  five  times  the  actual  cost  of  handling. 

12.  The  controlling  express    companies — "associations"  some 
of  them  are  called — pay  8  to  12  per  cent  dividends  yearly  on  their 
stock  capitalization,  which  stock  has  but  a  fraction  of  substantial 
values  back  of  it,  and  all  those  real  values  have  come  from  earnings. 


308  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

13.  In  addition  to  the  regular  annual  dividends  paid,  these 
express  companies,  every  few  years,   "cut  a  melon" — pay  stock- 
holders  a   substantial    "extra"    dividend.     One    company    (Wells, 
Fargo  &  Co.),  with  a  stock  capital  of  $5,000,000  in  1872— and  no  one 
knowing  what  tangible  assets  that  five  millions  represented — increas- 
ed it  to  $8,000,000  in  1893.     That  added  $3,000,000  was  issued  to  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  for  a  contract  which  gave  the  express  company 
a  monopoly  of  the  express  business  on  the  Union  Pacific  rail  system . 
On  that  eight  millions  the  express  company  paid  annual  dividends 
ranging  from  6  to  9  per  cent  from  1893  to  1901.     From  1902  to  1907 
it  paid  9  per  cent  annually,  since  which  date  its  annual  dividend  rate 
has  been  10  per  cent. 

In  addition  to  these  substantial  yearly  dividends  on  $8,000,000 
of  stock,  which  cost  its  holders  little  or  nothing,  this  company  cut  a 
huge  "melon"  in  1910.  This  melon  was  an  extra  dividend  to  its 
stockholders  of  100  per  cent  in  cash  ($8,000,000)  and  a  stock  dividend 
of  200  per  cent — a  total  of  300  per  cent  as  an  extra  dividend — thus 
raising  its  stock  capitalization  from  $8,000,000  to  $24,000,000. 

On  this  twenty-four  millions  of  stock  the  company  has  continued 
to  pay  10  per  cent  annually. 

The  net  earnings  of  the  company  for  1910  and  1911  were  about 
20  per  cent  on  its  $24,000,000  of  stock. 

14.  There  are  no  express  companies  in  European  countries. 
The  heavier  express  shipments  here  are  there  handled — and  satis- 
factorily handled — by  the  railroads  direct.     All  the  lighter  express 
shipments  are  there  handled  by  the  parcels  post. 

15.  The  parcels  post  service  of  European  countries  is  entirely 
satisfactory  to  the  people,  is  cheaper  than  the  pretense  of  a  parcels 
post  service  which  has  victimized  the  people  of  this  country  for  a  half- 
century  and  far  cheaper  than  the  rates  we  have  been  forced  to  pay  for 
express  service. 

16.  As  it  was  originally  designed,  and  so  provided  by  law,  that 
our  government  should  have  a  monopoly  in  the  carriage  and  delivery 
of  packages  and  parcels,  the  express  companies  in  this  country — all 
of  them — have  been  and  are  engaged  in  an  outlawed  traffic.     They  are 
criminals. 

17.  Our  government,  in  all  its  branches — legislative,  executive 
and  judicial — has  been  party  to  this  outlawry.     It  not  only  has 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  309 

protected  these  express  and  railway  raiders  while  they  robbed  us,  but 
it  has  permitted  itself  to  be  robbed  by  them. 

The  seventeen  statements  of  fact  should  be  sufficient  for  a  starter 
— a  starter  for  arriving  at  a  safe,  sound  conclusion  as  to  how  and  why 
a  comparatively  few  folks  get  fabulously  rich  so  quickly  and  so  easily 
while  so  many  millions  of  other  folks,  though  lavish  in  industry  and 
self-denying  in  expenditure,  rise  only  to  modest  means  or  remain 
poor. 

We  shall  now  take  up  a  discussion  of  the  parcels  post — as  it  has 
served  us,  and  as  it  has  served  other  peoples  and  should  be  made  to 
serve  us. 

The  first  thing  that  is  noticed  in  taking  a  ladder-top  view  of  this 
Parcels  post  question  is  the  immense  amount  of  public  bubbling  talk 
and  writing  and  money  that  is  being  expended  upon,  about  and  around 
it. 

Is  it  the  people?  No.  That  is  easily  to  be  seen.  The  people 
are  being  written  and  talked  to.  The  people  are  saying  little,  write 
less  and  are  not  putting  up  the  money  to  bubble  themselves  in  the  anti- 
parcels  post  campaign. 

Is  the  general  government  putting  up  the  oil  and  fuel  to  run  this 
anti-parcels  post  bunk-shooting  game? 

Well,  the  government  for  years  has  made  little  noticeable  effort 
to  give  the  people  better  and  cheaper  parcels  accommodation  in  its 
mail  service.  That  is,  the  executive  arm  of  the  national  government 
has  done  so.  The  legislative  arm  of  the  national  government  has 
uniformly,  though  never  unanimously,  opposed  any  and  every  meas- 
ure intended  to  increase  the  service  value  of  parcel  mail-carriage  to 
the  people. 

"Why  have  U.  S.  congressmen  and  senators  opposed?" 

They  have  opposed,  because  the  party  caucuses  of  the  House  and 
the  Senate  have  been  and  are  dominated  and  controlled  by  men  who  were 
and  are  opposed  to  such  legislation. 

Still,  the  government,  executive  or  legislative,  has  probably 
spent  no  money  and  has  certainly  made  little  noise  to  defeat  the 
establishment  of  a  better  and  cheaper  parcels  post  service. 

Now,  if  it  is  not  the  people  themselves  nor  the  people's  govern- 
ment who  are  making  all  the  parcels  post  noise,  buying  newspaper 
space  and  putting  uo  money  to  steer  country  merchants  and  others 


310  POSTAL   RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS. 

into  organizing  and  petitioning  against  increased  parcel  facilities  in  the 
mails — if  it  is  not  the  people  trying  to  bubble  themselves  nor  the 
government  trying  to  bubble  the  people,  I  wonder  who  it  is?  Who 
is  putting  up  for  the  fuel  and  oil  to  run  this  anti-parcels  post 
opinion-molding  sulky-rake,  which  has  been  so  vigorously,  so  in- 
dustriously and  so  designedly  dragged  over  the  mental  hay-fields  of 
the  American  hoi  polloi  during  recent  years?  What's  the  answer? 

Unless,  of  course,  one  has  taken  on  an  overload  of  this  anti- 
parcels  post  tonnage,  thereby  giving  his  feelings  a  chance  to  hip-lock 
or  strangle-hold  his  intelligence,  he'll  not  need  to  browse  around  long 
for  an  answer. 

You  have  a  boy  working  at  Blue  Island  or  Elgin,  Illinois.  Mother 
in  Chicago  wants  to  send  him  a  Christmas  present.  If  it  weighs  no 
more  than  four  pounds  she  can  send  it  by  mail,  paying  one  cent  an 
ounce.  If  she  wants  to  feel  sure  that  her  boy  gets  it,  she  can  '  'register" 
the  parcel,  paying  ten  cents  more. 

If  the  parcel  weighs  the  fraction  of  an  ounce  more  than  four  pounds, 
mother  cannot  send  it  to  her  boy  through  the  mail  service  at  all.  If  the 
parcel  weighs  exactly  four  pounds,  then  our  Uncle  Samuel  will 
deliver  it  at  Blue  Island  or  at  Elgin  when  mother  puts  up  sixty-four 
cents — seventy-four,  if  mother  wants  to  feel  sure  that  her  boy  gets  it 
and  for  that  reason  has  the  parcel  "registered." 

That  is  one  case — one  statement  of  fact. 

Andrew  Carnegie  at  Skibo  Castle,  Scotland,  desires  to  send  a 
four-pound  Christmas  present  to  some  son  of  Norval  or  "blow-hole" 
friend  in  Los  Angeles,  California,  or  Mrs.  John  Bull,  at  Manchester, 
England,  has  a  yearning — and  the  price — to  send  a  present  of  cor- 
responding weight  to  her  daughter  Margaret,  who  is  happily,  like- 
wise richly,  married  and  who  lives  in  a  beautiful  suburb  of  San 
Francisco.  Well,  "Andy"  and  Mrs.  John  Bull  can  send  their  four- 
pound  presents — to  be  more  exact,  they  can  send  even  if  the  parcels 
weight  up  to  eleven  pounds  each — can  have  those  four-pound  parcels 
carried  by  rail  to  some  steamship  port,  carried  across  the  Atlantic 
ocean,  put  into  our  mail  cars,  carried  with  our  own  mail  across  the 
entire  country  and  delivered  by  American  carriers  to  the  remotest 
suburb  of  Los  Angeles  or  San  Francisco  for  forty-eight  cents — three- 
fourths  the  price  mother  has  to  pay  to  get  her  four-pound  present  to  her 
boy  at  Blue  Island  or  Elgin ! 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  311 

That  is  another  case — another  statement  of  fact. 

For  many  years  the  United  States  government  has  carried  parcels 
of  newspapers,  magazines  and  other  periodicals,  weighing  up  to  220 
pounds,  to  any  point  in  the  country  reached  by  its  mail  service,  broke 
the  package  and  delivered  each  separate  piece  to  individual  addresses 
in  postoffice  boxes  or  by  carrier  for  one  cent  a  pound. 

Yet  it  persists  in  charging  mother  sixteen  cents  a  pound  to  send 
her  present  to  her  boy  at  Elgin  or  Blue  Island  and  compels  her  to 
keep  its  weight  down  to  four  pounds. 

That  is  another  case — another  statement  of  fact. 

For  many  years,  the  government  has  carried  by  mail,  not  hun- 
dreds, but  thousands  of  tons  of  parcels  free.  Every  United  States 
Senator,  every  Congressman,  every  department  head,  every  division 
head,  every  first,  second,  third  or  fourth  "assistant"  department 
or  division  head,  every  political  "fence"  builder,  whatever  his  position 
in  the  government's  official  service,  uses  his  franking  privilege. 

Not  only  that.     Most  of  them  abuse  it. 

Not  only  that.  Most  of  those  who  abuse  it  do  not  confine  the 
abuse  to  franking  public  documents  to  "friends  at  home"  and 
speeches — most  of  which  were  never  made  or  were  made  or  written  by 
somebody  else — to  "my  constituents."  Oh,  no  !  That  government 
"frank,"  so  it  has  been  credibly  asserted,  has  been  used  to  carry 
easy  chairs,  side  boards,  couches  and  other  household  goods  which 
have  been  "bought  cheap" — some  of  it  too  cheap  to  carry  a  price  tag — 
and  which  "can  be  used  at  home."  Typewriters,  filing  cases, 
office  desks,  frequently  acquired  by  a  process  of  benevolent  ap- 
propriation, have  reached  home  without  carriage  charge. 

That  is  another  case— another  statement  of  fact. 

But  why  continue?  I  could  go  on  for  a  page  or  two  with 
statements  of  fact,  all  evidencing  this  other  FACT. 

Mother — your  mother,  my  mother — the  great  tax-paying  body  of 
our  people — is  wronged,  is  victimized,  by  our  postal  service  and  regu* 
lations. 

That  is  my  opinion.  That  opinion  is  based  upon  a  "broad, 
general  and  comprehensive  view" — a  ladder- top  view — "of  the  whole 
question  in  its  various  and  varying  details,"  as  one  anfo'-parcels  post 
spouter  has  spouted. 

I  have  presented  but  four  statements  of  fact.     A  score  of  others 


312  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

will  readily  appear  to  any  reader  who  does  his  own  thinking.  But 
take  any  one  of  the  four  above  given  and  study  its  significance  for 
just  one  minute. 

Have  you  done  so?  "Yes?"  Well,  then  you  see  the  joke — or 
the  "joker" — in  the  an&'-parcels  post  talk  and  literature,  do  you  not? 
You  will  also  be  able  to  make  a  close  guess  as  to  who  are  financially 
backing  the  public-bubbling  opposition  to  any  legislation  for  the 
improvement  of  our  parcels  post  service.  If  you  cannot,  I  advise 
you  to  go  to  some  jokesmith  and  have  the  gaskets  and  packings  on 
your  think-tank  tightened  up. 

John  Wanamaker  was  a  great  merchant.  He  was  a  brainy 
business  man  and,  to  a  large  extent,  did  his  own  thinking.  He  was, 
for  a  term  of  years,  Postmaster  General  of  the  United  States.  Mr. 
Wanamaker  was  likewise  a  man  of  broad,  comprehensive  and  compre- 
hending humor.  He  could  crack  or  take  a  joke.  In  either  event,  the 
kernel  was  separated  from  the  shell  quickly.  Here  is  one  of  Mr. 
Wanamaker's  jokes : 

Years  ago,  when  Mr.  Wanamaker  was  Postmaster  General,  John 
Brisbane  Walker  asked  him  why  the  American  people  stood  for  the 
existing  parcels  post  outrage.  Mr.  Walker  believed  the  American 
people  were  quick,  judgmental  thinkers  and  swift  in  remedial  action 
when  throught  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  thinker  was  being 
victimized. 

Mr.  Walker  was  right — is  right.  American  people  do  think. 
The  trouble  is  that  too  many  of  us  are  coupled  into  train  with  the 
wrong  kind  of  thinkers.  We  are  switched  or  shunted  onto  any  side- 
track or  yarding  the  engineer,  the  conductor  or  the  traffic  manager 
desires.  We  simply  think  we  think,  while  really  we  are  merely 
following  a  steer.  But  I  digress. 

To  Mr.  Walker's  question,  Mr.  Wanamaker  made  this  reply: 

"It  is  true  that  parcels  could  be  carried  at  about  one-twelfth  their  present 
cost  by  the  Postoffice  Department,  but  you  do  not  seem  to  be  aware  that  there  are 
four  insuperable  obstacles  to  carrying  parcels  by  the  United  States  Postoffice 
Department.  The  first  of  these  is  the  Adams  Express  Company;  the  second  is  the 
American  Express  Company;  the  third  is  the  Wells-Far  go  Express  Company^ 
and  the  fourth,  the  Southern  Express  Company'9 

Of  course  there  are  several  more  "insuperable  obstacles"  to  an 
improvement  in  our  parcels  post  service.  There  is  the  previously 


*     POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  313 

mentioned  "big  six"  obstacles  with  the  railroads,  now  as  when  Mr. 
Wanamaker  spoke,  owning  or  controlling  them  all. 

The  reader  may  know — no  need  of  guessing — that  those  insuper- 
able obstacles  are  stoking  the  engines  which  are  "yarding"  public 
opinion — and  much  honest,  but  superficial  or  careless^  private  opinion 
— where  it  will  yield  unearned  revenues  to  the  stokers.  Any  man  who 
argues  against  cheapening  our  parcels  post  rates  is  merely  a  hired 
angler  for  suckers  or  a  sharer  in  the  spoils  which  railroad  and  express 
raiders  are  looting  from  the  people. 

I  recently  heard  one  of  those  patriotic  hired  "cappers"  talk  to 
his  job.  Among  his  forceful  points  were  the  following: 

"The  big  express  companies  employ  nearly  100,000  men. 

"Their  payroll  (officials  included),  is  nearly  $50,000,000  a  year. 

"Roosevelt  added  99,000  names  to  the  federal  pay  roll  during  his 
seven  years  in  office. 

"There  are  about  70,000  postoffices  in  the  United  States  and  an 
improved  parcels  post  service  would  require  an  additional  clerk  in 
each.  Therefore  70,000  more  tax-eaters  would  be  added  to  the  federal 
payrolls. 

"There  was  a  deficit  of  $6,000,000  piled  up  in  the  Postoffice  De- 
partment last  year.  To  what  appalling  figures  would  that  deficit 
mount  if  a  parcels  post  were  established?" 

Now,  I  want  to  ask  a  few  questions. 

First,  those  100,000  men  employed  by  the  big  express  companies 
and  who  are  paid  the  colossal  sum  of  $50,000,000  in  salaries.  The 
express  companies  neither  employ  so  many  men  nor  pay  so  much 
money.  But  if  they  did,  that  is  an  average  of  but  $500  a  year  to  each 
employe.  Do  you  think  those  100,000  express  men  would  lose  any 
killing  amount  in  annual  salary  if  the  government  took  the  whole 
bunch  of  them  bodily  over  and  put  them  into  a  parcels  post  service  ? 

So  much  for  those  alleged  100,000  express  company  employes, 
concerning  whose  interests  and  welfare  the  anfo'-parcels  post  bunk- 
shooter  appears  to  have  had  a  pain  in  his  lap  or  bunions  on  his  mind. 

Now,  how  about  the  90,000,000  or  more  people  who  make  up  the 
rest  of  us  folks  in  these  United  States?  How  would  we  come  out  in 
the  ledger  account  if  a  good,  efficient  and  cheap  parcels  post  service 
was  put  into  operation  and  the  "big  express  companies"  put  out  of 
business  ? 


314  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

It  is  quite  impossible  to  figure  it  out  to  the  cent.  The  public 
reports  of  those  big  express  companies,  likewise  their  system  of  double 
cross  bookkeeping,  prevent  us  getting  nearer  than  about  eight  blocks 
of  their  "inside  information."  But  some  of  the  governing  facts  we 
know  and  others  must  necessarily  follow  in  any  process  or  method  of 
reasoning  recognized  outside  the  harmless  ward  of  a  crazy  house. 

The  stock  of  express  companies  is  owned  largely  by  a  compara- 
tively few  people — a  thousand,  possibly  five  hundred,  persons  own 
90  per  cent  of  this  stock.  No  one  at  all  familiar  with  express  company 
tangibles,  unless  he  is  exercising  a  loose-screwed  veracity,  will  esti- 
mate their  aggregate  tangible  values  above  twenty  or  twenty-five 
millions.  More  than  that.  The  present  tangible  values  in  these 
companies  are,  as  previously  stated,  almost  wholly  investments  from 
earnings.  So  largely,  in  fact,  is  that  true  that  six  million  dollars 
is  a  liberal  estimate  for  the  actual  cash  capital  at  any  time  invested 
in  actual  operation. 

These  companies  paid  their  owners  two  to  three  and  a  half, 
or  more,  millions  a  year  in  dividends. 

Since  1907,  the  Adams  company  has  paid  $480,000  a  year  on 
$12,000,000  of  bonds.  Those  twelve  million  of  4  per  cent  bonds  were 
given  to  the  stockholders.  Not  one  cent  of  actual  cash  was  given  in 
consideration. 

What  has  that  to  do  with  the  parcels  post  question?  Simply 
this: 

When  the  government  installs  a  parcels  post  service  that  accepts, 
carries  and  delivers  packages  weighing  from  twelve  to  twenty  or  more 
pounds  these  looting  express  and  railroad  raiders  will  go  out  of  business. 

SUBSIDY    RAIDERS. 

Everybody  who  has  studied  the  question  at  all  knows  that  all 
alleged  deficits  in  the  postal  service  are  the  malformed  progeny  of  an 
illegal  union  between  crooked  public  officials  and  criminal  violators 
of  the  law  enacted  to  establish  and  govern  the  carriage  and 
delivery  of  mail  matter  in  these  United  States.  So  noticeable  has 
been  the  closed  eyes  and  "rear  view"  of  government  officials  while  the 
railroad  and  express  raiders  raided  and  walked  off  with  their  loot 
that  petty  thieves  began  to  shin  up  the  posts  of  the  Postoffice 
Department  directly  or  sneak  in  by  way  of  Congressional  legislation. 


POSTAL    RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS.  315 

"What  were  they  after?"  Why  they  wanted  a  "subsidy"  for 
carrying  foreign  or  ocean  mails,  or  they  wanted  a  "pork"  contract — 
one  of  those  contracts  which  renders  little  service  for  much  money. 

Did  you  ever  hear  of  Tahiti  ?  No.  It  is  not  a  breakfast  food  nor 
a  sure  cure  for  cancers.  It  is  an  island.  "Where?"  Ask  the 
Almighty.  I  don't  know,  and  I  am  doubtful  whether  the  Almighty 
knows  or  cares.  I  know  it  is  an  island  somewhere,  because  a  few 
years  ago  the  postal  department  entered  into  a  contract  with  some 
"tramp"  steamer  flying  a  rag,  which  close  inspection  might  discover 
had  once  been  the  American  flag. 

The  Postoffice  Department  paid  that  tramp  $45,000  for  carrying 
our  mails  to  Tahiti — a  service  that  another  vessel  in  the  Tahiti  trade 
offered  to  render  for  $3,500. 

Can  there  be  any  legitimate  surprise  or  wonder  at  a  "deficit" 
resulting  from  such  business  methods? 

But  that,  of  course,  was  "a  few  years  ago."  Yet,  stay!  On 
page  264  of  the  1910  report  of  the  Postoffice  Department,  I  find  that 
the  Oceanic  Line — a  line  of  United  States  register — carried  to  and  from 
Tahiti  and  the  Marquesas  Islands  7,622  pounds  of  letters  and  159,483 
pounds  of  prints.  This  was  carried  under  a  "contract"  and  the 
Oceanic  people  were  paid  $46,398  for  the  service — for  carrying  about 
88  tons  of  mail  matter. 

Looks  like  a  good  "deficit"  producer,  does  it  not? 

But  there  is  another  queer  thing  about  this  Tahiti  mail  contract. 
Note  (1)  on  page  263,  to  which  the  report  refers  readers,  says  steamers 
of  United  States  register  not  under  contract  are  paid  80  cents  a  pound 
for  carrying  letters  and  8  cents  a  pound  for  carrying  prints.  Figur- 
ing up  the  Oceanic's  service  at  those  rates  gives  as  result  only  $18,- 
856.24. 

So  it  can  readily  be  seen  there  is  something  in  a  "contract" — 
some  contracts,  anyway. 

On  the  same  page  (264),  I  find  that  another  ship,  one  of  the 
Union  Line  and  under  foreign  register,  touches  at  Tahiti  in  making 
New  Zealand.  It  carried  2,713,850  grams  (about  5,970  pounds)  of 
letters  and  58,926,887  grams  (about  129,639  pounds)  of  prints— within 
16  tons  the  weight  the  Oceanic  people  carried — and  received  only 
$7,781.54  for  the  service.  These  vessels  of  foreign  register  are  paid 
about  35  cents  a  pound  for  letter  weights  and  4J  cents  for  print  weight. 


316  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

Figuring  up  the  weights  hurriedly  at  the  named  rates,  I  find 
that  the  Union  folks  were  entitled  to  $7,923.40,  or  some  $142  more 
than  was  paid  them.  The  Oceanic  folks,  you  will  remember,  were 
paid  $46,398  when  at  open  carriage  rates  of  pay  to  vessels  of 
United  States  register  they  earned  only  $18,856.24. 

Looks  a  little  off  color,  does  it  not?  But  we  must  remember 
that  Tahiti  is  an  island.  Must  be  an  island  of  vast  importance.  It 
requires  the  shipment  of  88  tons  of  mail  matter  in  a  year — a  whole 
year — and  our  government  pays  $46,398  haulage  on  it.  Something 
over  79  of  those  88  tons  of  mail  was  printed  weight,  too. 

What  great  printers  and  publishers  those  Tahitians  and  Mar- 
quesans  must  be!  Or  was  that  print  stuff  of  United  States  origin? 
Catalogues  and  franked  and  penalty  matter,  I  wonder? 

At  any  rate  there  is  the  "contract"  in  1910  as  an  evidence  that 
some  one  here  is  doing,  or  has  done,  a  little  turn  toward  "burning" 
postal  revenues  and  helping,  in  a  small  way,  to  keep  a  postal  "deficit" 
in  evidence.  A  deficit,  you  know,  shows  that  the  revenues  of  the 
department  are  too  low,  too  small,  to  permit  the  establishment  of  an 
efficient,  cheap  parcels  post,  or  so  the  railroad  and  express  raiders 
would  have  us  think. 

The  important  point,  however,  is:  Are  we  fools  enough  to 
think  it?  If  so,  how  long  shall  we  continue  to  be  fools  enough  to 
think  it  ?  If  not,  is  it  not  about  time  that  we  created  a  disturbance — 
that  we  raise  some  dust — in  efforts  to  let  these  raiders  and  their 
cappers  know  we  are  not  fools?  Why  should  we  continue  to  act 
foolish  if  we  are  not  fools?  Please  rise,  Mr.  Sensible  Citizen,  and 
answer. 

As  before  said,  no  one  expects  nor  desires  the  government  to 
make  money  out  of  their  mail  service.  People  have,  however,  a  right 
to  expect — and  to  demand — that  their  regularly  chosen  representa- 
tives and  other  government  officials  prevent  a  lot  of  raiders,  or  any 
one  else  for  that  matter,  from  making  more  than  a  fair,  legitimate 
profit  on  what  they  do  for  or  contribute  to  that  service. 

There  has  been  much  talk  the  last  three  or  four  years  about  the 
economies  effected  by  the  Postoffice  Department  in  the  execution  of 
the  work  it  was  established  to  do.  How  much  of  this  talk  is  grounded 
on  fact  and  how  much  of  it  is  mere  political  gargle  and  party  and 
administration  "fan"-talk  I  shall  not  here  attempt  to  say.  Time  has 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  317 

not  permitted  me  to  look  into  these  averred  economies  carefully  and 
thoroughly  enough  to  warrant  positive  statements  from  me  anent 
them  here.  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  however,  that  the  present 
Postmaster  General,  Mr.  Hitchcock,  and  his  immediate  predecessors, 
Mr.  Meyer  and  Mr.  Cortelyou,  have  really  accomplished  a  little  in 
the  right  direction — a  little,  where  the  Lord  knows  we  should  know 
there  was  much  to  accomplish.  But,  as  stated,  my  favorable  opinion 
is  not  based  on  what  I  have  dug  up  myself  about  these  economies 
alleged  to  have  been  effected  in  the  recently  passed  years.  If  they 
have  been  effected,  their  accomplishment  only  goes  to  prove  that 
advocates  of  a  cheap  parcels  post  in  this  country  have  been 
right  in  their  facts  and  arguments,  and  also  that  their  exposures  and 
severe  condemnation  of  the  waste,  extravagance,  grafting  and 
stealing  in  the  postal  service  were  timely  and  well  deserved. 

Something,  however,  has,  I  think,  been  done.  The  exposure  of 
criminal  crookedness,  grafting,  waste  and  thievery  which  existed  in 
the  department — with  administrative  employes,  officers,  Congress- 
men and  Senators,  either  directly  or  collusively  connected  with  it — 
was  bound  to  wipe  some  leaking  joints  in  the  service.  The  exposures 
uncovered  so  much  porch-climbing  and  so  much  nastiness  that  most 
decent  citizens  were  holding  their  noses  and  thinking  of  buying  a 
gun.  Something  had  to  be  done.  The  noise  and  injured-innocence 
"holler,"  which  railroad  and  express  company  raiders  are  vocalizing 
and  printing,  is  pretty  good  evidence  not  only  that  some  little  has 
been  done  to  them,  but  also  that  they  fear  more  is  going  to  be  done 
to  jam  the  gear  or  otherwise  interfere  with  the  smooth  running  of 
some  one  or  more  of  their  high-speed,  noiseless-action  cream  sepa- 
rators. And  more  will  be  done  if  the  people  keep  on  the  mat  and  keep 
swinging  for  the  jaw  and  plexus.  But  it  is  not  all  done  yet.  The 
raiders  may  be  squealing  and  squirming  a  little.  They  always  do 
when  a  little  hurt.  But  they  are  still  busy — still  actively  after  the 
cream.  They  may  spar  a  little  for  time,  but  they  will  use  the  time 
actively  in  figuring  out  a  new  entrance  into  the  people's  milk  house. 

And  these  raiders  will  find  a  way  to  get  in,  too,  if  the  people  pull 
up  the  blankets  and  let  themselves  be  talked  and  foozled  to  sleep. 

TOUTING   FOR   "FAST   MAIL." 

There  appears  to  be  much  talk  about  "fast  mail"  service.     Of 


318  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

course  if  the  railways  are  already  running  at  a  destructive  loss  on  mail 
weight  and  space-rental  pay — which  they  are  not — why  they  will 
want  more  pay  if  they  furnish  a  fast  mail  service.  The  postal  au- 
thorities (official)  seem  to  think  that  a  "fast  mail"  is  a  thing  alto- 
gether lovely  and  much  to  be  desired.  The  railroad  carriers  are  of 
like  mind,  but — well,  such  service  costs  more  money.  They  want 
more  money.  A  fast  mail  is  just  the  thing  the  people  want  and  need ! 
It  will  push  the  corn  crop  ahead  and  keep  the  frost  off  the  peaches ! 

For  these  and  other  equally  easy  reasons  it  is  sought  to  steer  the 
people  into  making  a  scream  for  a  "fast  mail"  service.  They  want 
and  need  their  mail  in  a  hurry.  The  quicker  the  better.  In  fact, 
from  the  way  some  people  are  already  talking,  it  would  appear  they 
want  their  mail  delivered  about  twenty-four  hours  before  it  starts 
in  their  direction. 

If  the  cream-skimming  raiders  and  their  "  public  servant " 
assistants  can  only  get  the  people  to  talking  for  a  "fast  mail"  service, 
why  a  fast  mail  we  will  have,  and  we  will  pay  the  raiders  for  furnish- 
ing it. 

How  will  we  pay  them? 

Oh,  that  is  easy.  Bonuses  and  subsidies  are  popular  fashions 
in  federal  legislative  society.  Likewise  they  appear  to  be  popular  in 
postoffice  circles.  They  are  seasonable  the  year  around  and  are  cut 
to  fit  any  figure.  They  don't  stand  the  wash  very  well,  but — well, 
don't  wash  them.  The  raiders  and  their  official  valets  always  keep 
them  brushed  up  and  vacuum  cleaned.  Just  pay  for  them  is  all 
the  people  have  to  do. 

I  recall  a  serviceable  subsidized  fast  mail  gown  which  was 
handed  to  a  railroad  between  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  Newton,  Kan., 
some  years  since.  It  was  neatly  boxed  and  delivered  by  the  handlers 
of  postoffice  appropriations.  It  was  worth  $25,000  a  year  to  the  road 
that  got  it. 

"Of  what  use  was  it  to  the  people?" 

None  whatever.  The  fast  train  it  was  made  to  drape  was  put 
on  the  line  named  for  the  sole  service  and  benefit  of  two  Kansas  City 
newspapers.  It  swished  those  papers  (their  midnight  editions),  into 
Western  Kansas,  Oklahoma  and  Northern  Texas  ahead  of  the  appear- 
ance of  local  morning  issues. 

I  recall  another  "fast  mail"  bonus.     It  was  $190,000  and  went 


POSTAL   RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS.  319 

to  the  Southern  Railway  for  a  fast  train  out  of  New  York  for  New 
Orleans.  It  left  New  York  about  4  a.  m.  and  carried  little  or  no  mail 
for  delivery  north  of  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

It  arrived  in  New  Orleans,  if  I  remember  rightly,  along  about  2  a. 
m.  the  next  day — too  late  for  delivery  of  any  mail  before  the  opening 
of  the  day's  business — 9  or  10  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

But  the  regular  mail  train,  as  was  shown  in  the  debate  in  the 
Senate,  left  New  York  at  about  2.  a.  m.  and  arrived  in  New  Orleans 
about  4:30  a.  m. — two  hours  after  the  so-called  "fast  mail" — in 
ample  time  for  deliveries  when  the  business  of  the  city  opened. 

Fine  business  that,  is  it  not  ?    Well,  yes,  for  the  Southern  Railway. 

The  reader,  however,  should  be  able  to  recognize  it  as  a  regular 
60  H.  P.,  six-cylinder,  rubber-tired  "deficit"  producer.  Especially  will 
he  so  recognize  it  if  he  thinks  of  it  in  connection  with  this  other 
fact: 

That  same  year,  the  Southern  Railway  was  paid,  in  addition  to 
the  $190,000  "fast  mail"  subsidy  mentioned,  over  one  million  dollars 
at  the  regular  weight  rates  for  hauling  the  mails! 

There  are  numerous  others  of  equal  beauty  and  effectiveness  in 
design.  As  previously  stated,  however,  subsidies  and  bonuses  are 
all  carefully  designed  and  cut  to  lit  any  figure.  All  we  wise,  "easy" 
people  need  do  is  to  make  a  little  noise  for  a  "fast  mail"  service  and 
Congress  will  hand  it  out. 

The  railroad  raiders  can  easily  justify  their  demands  for  subsidies 
for  a  fast  mail  service  with  people  who  have  given  little  or  no  study  to 
this  mail-carrying  question.  Our  Postoffice  Department  furnishes 
the  raiders  about  all  the  argument  that  is  needed.  One  of  the  raiders 
has  been  quoted  as  saying:  "We  could  carry  the  mails  at  one-half 
cent  per  ton  mile,  if  the  Postoffice  Department  would  allow  us  to 
handle  it  in  our  own  way." 

There  you  are.  The  department  will  not  let  these  raiders  help 
the  people  save  their  own  money.  Very  generous.  Much  like  a 
burglar  calling  on  you  the  day  before  in  order  to  tell  you  how  to 
prevent  him  from  cracking  your  safe. 

But  the  beauty  of  that  railroader's  statement  lies  in  the  fact  that 
it  states  a  fact;  not  one  of  these  glittering,  rhetorical  facts,  but  a 
real  de  facto  fact. 

The  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Postoffice  Department  for  the 


320  POSTAL  RIDERS  AND  RAIDERS. 

carriage  of  mails  in  postoffice  cars  are  such  as  furnish  ample  grounds 
and  warrant  for  the  railway  official's  statement. 

Postoffice  cars  are  from  40  to  50  or  more  feet  in  length  and  weigh, 
empty,  from  50,000  to  110,000  pounds.  The  department  then  has 
fixtures  and  handling  equipment  put  in.  This  equipment  occupies 
about  two-thirds  of  the  floor  space  of  the  car,  and,  with  the  four  to 
twelve  railway  mail  clerks  also  put  into  it,  weighs  from  10  to  15  or 
more  tons.  The  railroad  is  paid  for  carrying  all  this  bulky,  space- 
occupying  equipment  at  the  regular  mail-weight  pay  rates. 

And  how  much  real  mail  does  the  department  get  into  these 
postoffice  cars? 

Well,  some  years  since  Professor  Adams,  after  a  most  careful 
and  extended  investigation,  placed  the  average  weight  of  mail 
actually  carried  at  two  tons.  He  pointed  out,  however,  that  the  mail 
load  could  easily  go  to  three  and  a  half  tons  and  referred  to  the 
Pennsylvania  road  which,  in  its  special  mail  trains,  loaded  as  high  as 
six  tons.  He  also  stated  that  if  the  load  were  increased  to  five  tons, 
the  cost  of  carriage  would  be  reduced  more  than  one-half,  and  he  made 
it  very  clear  that  his  figures  were  easily  inside  the  service  possibilities. 

In  view  of  such  evidence  and  testimony  from  Professor  Adams, 
and  of  other  men  to  much  the  same  effect,  the  department  may  pos- 
sibly have  increased  the  mail  load  since  1907  to  three  or  maybe  to 
three  and  a  half  tons. 

Even  so,  it  is  still  evident  that  the  railroad  must  haul  from 
70,000  to  140,000  pounds  of  car  and  equipment  to  carry  6,000  to 
7,000  pounds  of  mail ;  thirty-five  to  seventy  tons  of  dead  load  to  carry 
three  to  three  and  a  half  tons  of  live — of  service — load.  Do  not 
forget  that,  so  far  as  the  railroads  pay  is  concerned,  the  equipment 
is  live  weight — paid  weight.  So,  the  railroads  get  paid  for  a  load 
of  fifteen  to  eighteen  and  a  half  tons,  while  they  carry  only  three  to 
three  and  a  half  tons  of  mail — for  carrying,  according  to  Professor 
Adams's  figures  in  1907,  only  two  tons  of  mail. 

As  a  deficit-producer  that  should  rank  high.  As  an  evidence 
that  our  Postoffice  Department  is  run  on  economic  lines,  that  mail 
car  tonnage  load  is  nearly  conclusive  enough  to  convince  the  residents 
of  almost  any  harmless  ward. 

Speaking  seriously,  the  department's  methods  of  mail-loading 
the  postoffice  car — methods  which  put  from  two  to  three  and  a  half 


POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  321 

tons  into  cars  that  should  carry  six  to  ten  tons — furnishes  the  car- 
riage-raiders an  excellent  basis  for  their  talks  to  the  people  to  the 
effect  that  the  roads  are  not  getting  sufficient  pay  for  carrying  the 
mails  now,  and  if  they  (the  people)  want  better  or  faster  service  the 
roads  must  be  paid  more  money,  either  as  bonuses  or  subsidies.  In 
fact,  the  railroad  people  have  been  holding  up  this  nonsensical — or 
collusive — practice  of  the  department  for  years  as  basis  for  their 
demands  for  more  pay  for  hauling  the  government  mails.  As  proof 
of  this  statement,  take  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Julius  Kruttschnitt 
before  the  Wolcott  Commission,  I  think  it  was.  Mr.  Kruttschnitt  was 
then  (1901)  Fourth  Vice-President  of  the  Southern  Pacific.  In 
reply  to  the  Commission's  inquiry  as  to  whether  or  not  the  mails  could 
be  profitably  carried  over  the  New  Orleans-San  Francisco  routes  at  a 
half  cent  a  pound  ($10.00  per  ton  or  for  $100  to  $200  per  car  if 
reasonably  loaded),  Mr.  Kruttschnitt  is  reported  to  have  answered  in 
part  that  "at  half  a  cent  a  pound  the  mileage  rate  for  442  miles  is 
2.3  cents.  Statement  G,"  he  continued,  "shows  that  to  carry  one  ton 
of  mail  we  carry  nineteen  tons  of  dead  weight,  so  that  for  hauling 
twenty  tons  we  get  2  cents  or  a  little  over  one-tenth  of  a  cent  a  gross 
ton  mile." 

All  very  forceful  and  conclusive,  if  it  were  true,  which  it  is  not. 
It  is  true,  however,  that  Mr.  Kruttschnitt  was  making  good  argu- 
mentative use  of  the  ridiculously  low  loading  of  cars  under  the  regu- 
lations of  the  department.  That  is  all.  If  the  postoffice  car  used  on 
Mr.  Kruttschnitt's  road  was  a  50-foot  car  and  weighed,  say,  100,000 
pounds,  that  and  the  railway  mail  clerks  constituted  the  only  "dead" 
weight  hauled. 

His  road  got  paid  for  hauling  the  tons  of  ridiculously  heavy 
mail-handling  equipment  and  fixtures  in  that  car — got  paid  for 
hauling  them  both  ways,  at  the  regular  mail-weight  rates.  His  road 
also  received  over  $8,000  a  year  rental,  or  "space  pay,"  whichever 
the  rail-raiders  desire  to  call  it,  for  the  use  of  that  car  for  mail  haulage. 

So,  it  is  really  not  so  bad  as  Mr.  Kruttschnitt  apparently  would 
have  it  appear.  In  fact,  one  does  not  have  to  look  into  the  matter 
very  closely  to  see  that  the  Southern  Pacific  had  what  might  be 
called  a  "good  thing"  in  its  mail  carrying  contract. 

But  what  are  the  railroads  really  paid  for  hauling  mail  tonnage 
as  compared  with  the  rates  they  receive  for  hauling  other  tonnage  ? 


322  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

In  writing  to  this  phase  of  the  question  at  the  time  of  the 
pendency  of  the  Fitzgerald  and  another  bill, — the  former  requiring 
that  periodical  publishers  pay  $160  and  the  latter  that  they  pay  $80 
per  ton  for  mail  carriage  of  their  publication — Mr.  Atkinson  said: 

Let  it  not  be  forgotten,  that  publishers  pay  the  government  $20  per  ton  for 
their  papers;  doesn't  it  seem  enough,  when  the  government  is  so  generous  toward 
the  railroads  that  it  pays  for  transporting  1,000  pounds  of  leather,  locks,  etc.,  for 
every  100  pounds  of  letters? 
*         *         *         *         *         *         *     t    *         *         *         *         *        *         ** 

It  is  no  unusual  thing  for  the  railroads  to  haul  live  hogs  from  Chicago  to 
Philadelphia,  a  very  inconvenient  as  well  as  unpleasant  kind  of  freight.  The  hogs 
have  to  be  fed  and  watered  on  the  way,  they  cannot  be  stacked  one  upon  another, 
so  require  much  space.  What  do  the  railroads  charge  for  this  service?  Is  it 
$160  per  ton?  No.  Is  it  $80  per  ton?  No.  Is  it  $20  per  ton?  No.  They 
do  it  for  $6  per  ton,  and  are  glad  of  the  job. 

Professor  Parsons  wrote  a  volume  a  few  years  ago  entitled 
"The  Railways,  The  Trusts  and  The  People."  Professor  Parsons 
looked  into  this  ton-mile  rate  of  pay  for  rail  haulage  most  carefully 
and  gave  the  results  of  his  investigations  in  his  book,  from  which  I 
take  the  tabulated  rates  following. 

In  passing,  I  may  say  that  the  professor  is  recognized  by  every- 
body as  a  most  dependable  authority — that  is,  everybody  save  the 
railroad  and  express  raiders  and  their  hired  men.  They  have  written 
and  talked  at  great  length  to  "refute"  him,  which  thoughtful  and 
disinterested  people  take  as  mighty  strong  evidence  that  Professor 
Parsons  presented  the  truth  and  the  facts,  or  so  nearly  the  truth  and 
facts  that  his  statements  made  the  "authorized,"  rake-off  patriots 
turn  loose  on  him  their  high-powered,  chain-tired  public  bubblers. 

Following  are  the  figures  which  the  Professor  published  as 
showing  the  average  ton  mile  rates  the  railroads  then  received  for 
carrying  different  kinds  of  shipments:  Rate  per  ton 

mile,  cents. 

For  carrying  express  generally 3  to  6 

For  carrying  excess  baggage 5  to  6 

For  carrying  commutation  passengers 6 

For  carrying  dairy  freight,  as  low  as 1 

For  carrying  ordinary  freight  in  1.  c.  1 2 

For  carrying  imported  goods,  N.  O.  to  S.  F 8 

For  carrying  average  of  all  freight 78 

For  carrying  the  mails  (Adams  estimate) 12.5 

For  carrying  the  mails  (Postoffice  Department  estimate) 27 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  323 

THE    PARCELS    POST. 

The  Postmaster  General  in  his  reports  for  1908-9  and  1909-10 
recommends  a  trial  or  "test"  of  a  parcels  post  service  on  several  rural 
routes  "to  be  selected  by  the  Postmaster  General." 

The  Congress  now  in  session  is  giving,  or  will  give,  this  recom- 
mendation serious  consideration,  it  is  presumed.  Especially  will  it 
be  given  such  serious  consideration  when  the  1911-12  bill,  making 
appropriations  for  the  postal  service,  is  under  fire  and  is  being  "savage- 
ly attached  by  its  friends." 

It  may  be  depended  upon  that  the  express  and  railroad  gentlemen 
now  shearing  a  rich  fleece  from  your  Uncle's  postal  fold  will  not  have 
any  fair  tests  made  of  a  parcels  post  service  so  long  as  they  can 
prevent  it,  and  they  appear  to  have  numerous  representatives  in 
both  houses  of  Congress  who  can  be  influenced  to  prevent  it,  if  their 
past  talk  and  votes  may  be  taken  as  indicating  what  they  are 
there  for. 

Of  course,  the  chief  clack  of  the  enemy's  hired  men  is  "lack  of 
funds."  Yet  they  go  on  appropriating  millions  to  people  who  do  not 
earn  it — to  pay  for  services  not  rendered. 

The  same  kippered  tongue  lashed  the  "rural  delivery"  service 
the  same  way.  In  the  end,  the  people  won.  But  they  won,  in  the 
bill  as  originally  passed,  a  rural  delivery  of  the  "test"  variety. 
"Why?"  Well,  a  properly  equipped  and  serviceable  rural  delivery 
would  be  a  step  towards  a  serviceable  parcels  post  and  the  raiders  do 
not  want  the  people  to  have  such  a  parcels  post. 

As  samples  of  the  sort  of  "friendly  feeling"  manifest  in  Congress 
toward  a  parcels  post  and  of  the  profound  wisdom  carried  by  some 
of  its  alleged  friends,  I  desire  to  make  a  quotation  or  two. 

When  the  measure  was  first  up  (1908),  Representative  Lever 
of  South  Carolina  introduced  the  four  counties  "experimental  test" 
amendment  in  the  House.  Following  is  his  opening: 

Every  farmer  here  present  knows  of  his  own  experience  how  much  time  is 
taken  in  extra  trips  to  town  and  city. 

Now,  that  is  real  fetching.  Especially  before  so  vast  a  gathering 
of  farmers  as  heard  it ! 

But  a  Missouri  "farmer"  present  wanted  to  be  shown.  So  he 

fired  a  question  at  Mr.  Lever.  The  farmer  from  Missouri  wears  the 


324  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

name  of  Caulfield.     He  likewise  wears  an  abiding  distrust  of  the 
parcels  post.     Following  is  his  question: 

Is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  great  mail  order  houses  of  the  country  are  the  ones  who 
are  really  in  favor  of  the  parcels  post  ? 

There  is  real  intellectual  magneto  and  lamp  equipment  for  you. 
Note,  too,  the  shrewdness  of  this  Missouri  "farmer"  in  wording  his 
question — the  mail  order  houses  may  not  be  the  only  ones  who  favor 
the  parcels  post,  but  they  are  about  the  only  ones  who  "really  favor"  it ! 

Well,  there  are  over  40,000,000  residents  of  the  country— villages 
and  towns  in  this  country — among  them,  too,  are  twenty  millions  of 
real  farmers.  These  are  pretty  firmly  of  opinion  that  they  "are 
really  in  favor  of  the  parcels  post."  There  are,  also,  not  less  than 
30,000,000  more  residents  of  incorporated  cities,  small  and  large, 
who  at  least  think  they  favor  a  parcels  post  service  which  will  permit 
"mother"  to  send  a  pair  of  pants  to  her  boy  ten  miles  away  as  cheaply 
as  the  laird  of  Skibo  Castle,  Scotland,  can  send  two  pairs  of  kilts  to 
a  son  of  his  friend's  Aunt  Billy  who  lives  in  Los  Angeles,  California. 

Of  course,  the  people  may  only  think  they  think  and  are  sitting 
up  nights  with  the  windows  open  and  their  ears  spread  to  hear  their 
representatives  tell  'em  they  are  wrong.  If  so,  Mr.  Caulfield  and 
Mr.  Lever  will  probably  hear  from  them.  It  takes  the  people  some 
time  to  recognize  or  properly  to  appreciate  how  wise  some  of  their 
representatives  are — what  a  vast  amount  of  charges-prepaid 
wisdom  they  have.  But  the  people  finally  catch  on  and  then — well, 
then  there  will  not  be  so  many  "farmers"  of  the  Mr.  Lever  variety  in 
Congress. 

But  I  want  to  give  Mr.  Lever  another  show.  He's  entitled  to 
it  "under  the  rules."  He  should  have  several  of  them — not  to  show 
his  profound  knowledge  of  the  value  and  dangers  of  an  efficient, 
cheap  parcels  post,  but  to  show  that  a  man  need  not  spend  a  cent  in 
Congress  to  advertise  the  fact  that  he  is  a  "practical  politician." 
All  he  needs  do  is  make  a  few  hired  or  ignorant  remarks  on  some 
subject  about  which  the  people  of  the  country  have  been  thinking. 

Here  is  Mr.  Lever's  answer  to  Mr.  Caulfield's  question,  as  pre- 
viously quoted : 

The  wisdom  of  discriminating  in  favor  of  the  local  merchant  must  be  apparent 
to  any  one  who  regards,  for  a  moment,  the  danger  involved  in  a  system  (parcels 
post)  which  would  inevitably  centralize  the  commerce  of  the  country. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  325 

Now,  candidly,  how  could  a  "friend"  of  a  parcels  post  service 
show  his  friendship  more  nicely  than  that?  Especially  if  he  is  a 
"farmer?"  Or  even  if  he  is  not,  and  merely  desires  the  farmers  to 
think  he  is  their  friend  ? 

Why,  Mr.  Lever  has  Mr.  Caulfield  shoved  clear  over  the  ropes 
in  that  answer.  Mr.  Caulfield,  of  Missouri,  may  have  full  magneto 
and  lamp  equipment,  but  Mr.  Lever,  when  it  comes  to  a  friendly , 
high-speed  spurt  for  a  parcels  post  service,  shows  all  the  latest  im- 
provements. No,  sirs,  Mr.  Lever  is  not  merely  a  last  year's  model. 
He's  bang  up-to-date — axles,  drawn  steel;  forged  crank  shaft  with 
eight  cams  integral;  continuous  bearings  and  bearings  all  ground; 
two  water-cooled,  four-cylinder  motors  with  sliding  gear;  "built-in'* 
steel  frame,  and  running  on  a  "wheel-base"  of  106  inches.  Mr.  Lever 
shows  all  the  other  "latest,"  necessarily  belonging  to  the  "best  seller" 
class  among  late  models. 

However,  I  have  probably  mentioned  enough  to  make  it  clear 
to  my  readers,  if  not  to  his  constituents,  that  Mr.  Lever  is  fully  equipped 
to  act  the  part  of  the  farmer's  "friend,"  a  friend  of  the  parcels  post, 
or  of  any  other  old  thing.  Some  may  think  he  carries  a  little  too 
much  weight  for  a  good  hill -climber.  It  should  be  remembered, 
however,  that  some  sorts  of  "friends"  do  not  climb  hills.  They  skip 
around  the  hills  and  get  what  they  are  after  while  we  are  climbing. 
When  farmers  and  others  of  our  producing  classes  wise-up  to  the  brand 
of  vocal  friendship  I  am  "insinuatin'  about,"  such  representatives  as 
Mr.  Lever  will  last  about  as  long  as  it  would  take  a  one-armed, 
wooden-legged  man  to  fall  off  the  top  of  the  Flat  Iron  Building  flag*, 
pole. 

PARCELS  POST  "TESTS." 

It  may  as  well  be  said  here  as  elsewhere  that  such  "tests"  of  the 
feasibility  and  desirability  of  a  good  parcels  post  service  as  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock proposes  to  make  are  but  procrastinating  foolery.  Great  Britain 
and  every  continental  country  of  Europe  has  an  efficient  parcels  post 
service  in  operation. 

Postmaster  Generals  and  railroad  and  express  company  raiders 
know  that.  The  countries  indicated  have  made  all  the  "tests"  we 
need  have  of  people-serving  parcels  post,  and  every  one  of  them  derive 
more  or  less  revenue  from  that  service,  there  being  no  deficits. 


326  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Postmaster  Generals  and  our  railroad  and  express  company 
raiders  know  all  that.  So,  also,  do  our  Senators  and  Congressmen 
know  that.  Even  alleged  "fanner"  Congressmen  know  it. 

Our  public  servants  know  even  more  than  that.  They  know 
that  under  the  International  Postal  Union  agreements  our  govern- 
ment has  entered  into,  our  postal  service  to-day  handles  these  foreign 
countries'  parcels,  of  either  United  States  or  of  foreign  origin, weighing 
up  to  eleven  pounds.  They  also  know  our  own  postal  service  now 
won't  permit  our  own  people  to  send  by  mail,  packages  weighing 
more  than  four  pounds.  They  also  know  that  for  carrying  a  four- 
pound  parcel  by  his  own  mail  service  the  American  must  pay  64  cents 
if  the  parcel  is  for  delivery  in  any  of  the  foreign  countries  covered  by 
Postal  Union  agreement,*  but  if  sent  by  some  one  in  any  of  those  coun- 
tries for  delivery  in  this,  the  sender  may  make  up  a  parcel  weighing 
as  much  as  eleven  pounds  and  for  its  delivery  will  have  to  pay  only 
48  cents. 

I  say  that  our  mail  carriers  and  public  officials  know  these  things. 
The  facts  as  stated  must  be  known  of  the  Postal  Union  agreements. 
On  request,  the  Postoffice  Department  does  not  hesitate  to  give  this 
information  to  anyone.  The  following  is  a  paragraph  taken  from  a 
department  communication.  It  was  sent  in  response  to  a  request 
made  by  Mr.  Alfred  L.  Sewell,  who  wrote  a  most  informative  com- 
munication that  appeared  in  the  Chicago  Daily  News  of  date 
November  6,  1911.  I  take  the  quotation  from  Mr.  Sewell's  article. 

Mailable  merchandise  may  be  sent  by  parcels  post  to  Bahamas,  Barbadoes, 
Brazil,  Bermuda,  Bolivia,  Danish  West  Indies  (St.  Croix,  St.  John,  St.  Thomas), 
Colombia,  Ecuador,  British  Guiana,  Costa  Rica,  Guatemala,  British  Honduras, 
Republic  of  Honduras,  Haiti,  Jamaica  (including  Turk  islands  and  Caracas), 
Leeward  Islands,  Windward  Islands,  Mexico,  Newfoundland,  Nicaragua,  Peru, 
Salvador,  Trinidad,  Tobago,  Uruguay,  Venezuela,  in  the  western  hemisphere, 
and  to  Australia,  Japan  and  Hongkong  in  the  east,  and  to  Austria,  Belgium, 
Denmark,  France,  Germany,  Great  Britain,  Hungary,  Italy,  the  Netherlands, 
Norway  and  Sweden  in  Europe.  The  postage  rate  is  uniform  at  12  cents  a  pound, 
or  fraction  of  a  pound.  A  parcel  must  not  weigh  more  than  eleven  pounds,  nor 
measure  more  than  three  feet  and  six  inches  in  length,  or  six  feet  in  length  and 
girth  combined. 

Then  why  prattle  about  a  "test"  as  to  the  desirability  and 
practicability  of  a  good,  cheap  parcels  post  service  in  this  country ;  one 
that  will  serve  our  own  people  ? 

*  By  latest  Postal  Union  agreements,  12  cents  a  pound,  instead  of  16  cents  a  pound 
(maximum  limit  4  pounds)  for  United  States  delivery. 


POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  327 

Especially  why  prattle  about  such  a  parcels  post  service  on  a  few 
selected  rural  routes?  It  is  not  only  foolishly  silly,  but  it  looks 
suggestively  wrong — as  if  there  was  some  ulterior  motive  back  of 
any  suggestion  of  such  a  test.  "Why?" 

Well,  if  such  test  is  made  under  regulations  suggested  by  the 
Postmaster  General,  the  only  parcels  that  service,  or  "test"  service, 
is  designed  to  carry,  are  such  as  originate  on  a  selected  rural  route  and 
are  for  delivery  on  the  same  route  or  on  a  route  immediately  connected 
with  it.  That  is,  as  I  understand  Mr.  Hitchcock's  recommended 
regulations,  any  farmer  or  villager  along  the  selected  "test"  rural 
route  may  send  a  package  (weight  and  rate  of  carriage  yet  to  be  de- 
cided upon)  to  any  other  farmer  or  villager  on  the  same  route  or  con- 
nected route,  or  to  a  resident  of  the  town  or  city  at  which  such  route 
originates  or  starts. 

If  such  a  farce  can  be  seriously  thought  of  as  a  "test"  of  what  use 
and  economic  value  a  nation-wide  parcels  post  service  would  be  to  our 
people,  even  to  the  people  residing  on  the  test  routes,  it  will  take 
some  graduate  of  a  foolery  school  or  foreman  in  a  joke  foundry  to  so 
think  of  it. 

Let's  see.  A  farmer  may  send  a  jar  of  butter,  box  of  eggs,  crate 
of  fruit  or  vegetables,  etc.,  to  the  village  storekeeper  and  get  his  pay 
for  the  consignment,  "in  trade"  usually.  By  writing  the  store- 
keeper an  order,  postal  card  or  letter,  the  farmer  may  get  on  the  next 
round  of  the  carrier  what  he  desires.  That  is,  he  will  get  what  he  has 
asked  for  if  the  storekeeper  has  it  in  stock.  The  farmer,  or  the  farm- 
er's wife,  may  do  the  same  thing  in  the  event  that  the  consignment 
of  their  products,  presuming  that  the  "regulations"  will  permit  the 
carrier  to  handle  perishable  goods,  goes  no  farther  away  than  the 
county  seat  or  other  town  or  city  from  which  the  rural  route  starts. 
They  can  also  send  such  parcels  to  any  railroad  station  on  the  route 
for  shipment  to  any  more  distant  point.  In  such  case,  however,  the 
farmer  must  pay  an  express  carriage  charge  from  the  local  railroad 
station  to  the  destination  of  his  shipment. 

But  enough  of  this  local  application  of  the  proposed  "test"  regu- 
lations. It  will  readily  be  seen  that  if  the  farmer  or  villager  on  a 
selected  test  route  desires  to  send  a  parcel,  not  above  the  regulation 
weight — whatever  that  may  be — to  any  point  not  on  the  same  route, 
he  will  have  an  express  charge  to  pay — whatever  that  charge  may  be. 


328  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

And  if  he  orders  something,  inside  the  regulation  weight,  from  some 
factory  or  city  not  on  his  carrier's  route,  he  must  also  pay  an  express 
charge  for  its  carriage  to  his  local  railroad  station.  If  he  wants  the 
article  or  goods  delivered  at  his  home  by  the  rural  carrier,  he  must 
pay  an  additional  charge — the  postal  carriage  charge,  whatever  that 
may  be. 

As  a  "test"  of  the  service  value  of  a  parcels  post,  could  anything 
be  more  absurd  ?  If  so,  it  would  be  difficult  to  frame  it  up.  Such  a 
"test,"  however,  will  still  leave  the  raiding  express  companies  in 
position  to  hold  up  the  selected  "home  circle,"  rural-route  residents 
on  all  shipments,  which  go  to  or  come  from  any  city  or  point  outside 
the  home  circle — and  that  is  about  what,  if  not  just  what,the  proposed 
"test"  is  designed  or  intended  to  do,  or  so  it  appears  from  the  ladder 
top. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  noted  that  the  rural-route  delivery 
enactment,  or  the  department  regulations  under  which  it  was  to  be  ap- 
plied, carried  an  express  protecting  "joker."  If  not,  why  was  the  rural 
route  carrier  required  to  furnish  a  cart  or  other  carrying  vehicle  of 
only  twenty-five  pounds  capacity?  Was  it  valid  for  ulterior  reasons 
which  named  so  small  a  weight  ?  Would  it  have  cost  the  government 
any  more  money  for  rural  carrier  service  if  a  maximum  weight  of  500, 
or  even  of  1,000  pounds,  had  been  named  for  the  carrying  vehicle? 

The  reader  may  answer.  To  The  Man  on  the  Ladder,  though, 
that  25-pound  requirement  looks  to  be  of  doubtful  mail-service 
value,  if,  indeed,  not  suspiciously  queer. 

It  was  carefully  figured  in  1900  that  our  rural,  or  non-railroad, 
communities  alone  lost  $90,000,000  a  year  in  excessive  express 
charges  and  delays  in  delivery  by  reason  of  the  criminal  apathy  of 
their  government  in  the  matter  of  furnishing  even  a  reasonably 
adequate  domestic  parcels  post  service,  such,  for  instance,  as  that 
furnished  by  the  German  government.  The  German  government 
carries  an  11 -pound  package  anywhere  in  the  German  empire  or  in 
Austria-Hungary  for  12  cents. 

To  aid  the  reader,  I  give,  following,  a  table  covering  the  data 
essential  to  a  fair  understanding  both  of  the  excessive  pay  for  a 
service  which  our  government  should  render  for  a  tenth  of  the  money 
and,  also,  of  why  our  express  service  is  inconvenient — is  wasteful 
and  expensive — by  reason  of  the  distance  the  express  offices  are  from 


POSTAL  RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 


329 


the  people  ordering.  This  last  is  clearly  shown  by  comparing  their 
number  with  the  larger  number  of  postoffices  in  the  several  states 
named. 

THE   WORM   UNCOVERED. 


STATE. 

&1  °2 
£g 

o| 
o 

fc 

t| 

o£ 
.  o 

£ 

8 

£ 
% 

!§, 

|J3 
<* 

!! 

OQ_< 

"fl   cj   V 

3  e.^ 

O   .    '~l 

i  £»•** 

^-Q   03 

English  mer- 
chants' advan- 
tage at  48c. 

German  mer- 
chants' advan- 
tage at  58c. 

Mexican  mer- 
chants' advan- 
tage at  66c. 

Alabama. 

334 

2445 

$  1  33 

$1  21 

$0  85 

$0  75 

$0  67 

Arizona    

41 

202 

3  89 

3.77 

3.41 

3  31 

3  23 

Arkansas              

262 

1  880 

1  66 

1.54 

1  18 

1  08 

1  00 

California 

586 

1  659 

3  16 

3  04 

2  68 

2  58 

2  50 

Connecticut    

108 

511 

.61 

.49 

.13 

.03 

Georgia                         

451 

2,657 

1  33 

1.21 

85 

75 

67 

Illinois 

1  495 

2622 

1  09 

97 

61 

51 

43 

Kentucky    

471 

2892 

1.22 

1.10 

.74 

64 

.56 

Maine                                       .  . 

248 

1  254 

61 

49 

13 

03 

Michigan  

737 

2,161 

1.22 

1.10 

.74 

.64 

.56 

New  York     

1,309 

3735 

61 

.49 

13 

.03 

Ohio 

1,362 

3398 

1  09 

97 

61 

51 

43 

Oklahoma   

30 

576 

2.10 

2.07 

1.62 

1.52 

1  53 

Pennsylvania            

919 

5,206 

.61 

.49 

13 

.03 

Rhode  Island 

90 

153 

61 

49 

13 

03 

South  Dakota  

229 

639 

2.67 

2.55 

2.19 

2.09 

2.01 

Texas 

662 

2968 

2  19 

2  07 

1  61 

1.61 

1  53 

Virginia 

263 

3468 

1  22 

1  10 

74 

64 

56 

Whole  country  

20,155 

60,000 

Had  I  the  space  at  command  I  would  print  the  figures  for  the 
whole  United  States.  However,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  states  I 
have  taken  are  fairly  representative  of  the  whole  country — the 
populous  with  the  sparsely  settled. 

The  figures  as  to  number  of  express  and  postoffices  are  from  the 
United  States  census  for  1900.*  The  estimates  are  made  on  the  parcel 
weight  of  1 1  pounds.  Eleven  pounds  is  the  English  domestic  parcels 
weight  that  is  carried  anywhere  in  the  United  Kingdom  for  24  cents 
or,  by  international  postal  agreement,  to  any  point  in  this  country 
for  48  cents.  In  passing,  it  might  be  noted  that  for  the  year  1900  the 

*Postofflces,  1910. 


330  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

British  postoffice  turned  into  its  national  treasury  over  $18,000,000 
profit.  It  might  also  be  well  to  notice  that  English  merchants 
imported  nearly  five  and  a  half  million  dollars  value  by  parcels  post 
and  exported  nearly  twenty  and  a  half  million  dollars  of  value  by 
means  of  the  same  service. 

But  to  get  back  to  our  11 -pound  parcel. 

Germany  carries  it  anywhere  in  her  empire  or  in  Austria-Hungary 
for  12  cents. 

Switzerland  carries  it  for  eight  cents,  and  several  other  countries 
are  now  trying  to  reach  the  German  weight-rate  for  domestic  delivery. 

So  we  will  take  as  our  package  of  eleven  pounds  and  figure  its 
delivery  at  any  postoffice  in  the  United  States  for  twelve  cents. 

One  more  point  about  this  table. 

The  reader  must  keep  in  mind  that  we  now  deliver  packages 
up  to  eleven  pounds  from  any  person — merchant,  manufacturer  or 
other — living  in  England,  Germany  or  Mexico.  It  is  delivered  for 
the  English  shipper  (by  our  mails)  to  any  United  States  postoffice  for 
48  cents ;  for  the  German  shipper  for  58  cents  or  for  the  Mexican 
shipper  for  66  cents. 

The  three  right-hand  columns  of  the  table  show  how  much  cheaper 
the  English,  German  or  Mexican  merchant,  or  other  shipper,  can  have 
his  eleven  pounds  of  merchandise  carried  to  Rabbit  Hash,  Ky., 
Springtown,  Mo.,  Gold  Button,  Cal. — to  any  postoffice  in  the  United 
States — than  the  New  York  merchant  can  send  his  11 -pound  parcel  to 
the  express  office  "nearest"  the  customer  ordering. 

The  express  charges  given  are  the  carefully  figured  averages  for 
the  states  named  for  carriage  from  New  York  City.  The  third  column 
gives  the  average  express  charge  (at  rates  ruling  in  1900)  from  New 
York  City  to  the  states  named.  The  fourth  column  gives  the 
savings  to  the  purchaser — the  merchant  or  the  consumer — if  the 
11 -pound  parcel  were  carried,  as  it  should  be  carried,  in  the  mails  for 
12  cents.  The  first  two  columns  give  the  number  of  express  offices 
and  postoffices  in  the  several  states  named  and  are  intended  as 
conclusive  proof  that  millions  of  our  people  are  much  nearer  to  a  post- 
office  than  to  an  express  office. 

With  this  preliminary,  let  us  now  comment  on  the  table. 
Don't  side-step  it  because  it's  figures — unless,  of  course,  you're  some 
hired  man  of  the  express  or  railroad  companies. 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  331 

The  total  of  express  companies  in  the  footing  is  that  given  in  the 
census  report  for  1900.  There  are  probably  several  hundred  more  now. 
The  corresponding  total  given  for  the  number  of  postoffices  is  correct 
for  July  1,  1910.  There  are  fewer  postoffices  now  than  in  1900,  the 
establishment  of  rural  route  delivery  having  reduced  the  number 
greatly.  The  reader  must  keep  in  mind  that  the  figures  named  in 
headings  of  the  three  right-hand  columns  cover  a  "delivery"  charge 
in  addition  to  the  home-rate  mailing  rate  for  the  countries  named. 
This  delivery  charge  was  covered  in  the  international  agreements : 

If  the  reader  will  study  that  table  a  little  he  will  learn  several 
things. 

If  we  have  one  hundred  millions  of  people  in  this  country,  there 
is  an  express  office  for  about  each  5,000  of  them,  while  there  is  a 
postoffice  for  about  each  1,656  of  them. 

There  is  an  express  office  to  about  every  175  square  miles  of  our 
territory,  while  there  is  a  postoffice  for  about  each  60  square  miles  of 
our  territory. 

The  reader  will  have  no  trouble  to  see  by  the  table  that,  if  he 
ordered  an  11 -pound  lot  of  hose  and  shirts  or  phonograph  records, 
photograph  films  or  other  goods  from  New  York  City  for  delivery  in 
Chicago,  he  would  get  the  goods  by  a  properly  served  parcels  post  for 
just  97  cents  less  carriage  charge  than  he  now  pays  the  express  com- 
panies. If  he  live  in  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  he  would  get  the  goods  from 
New  York  for  $3.04  less.  Even  if  he  lived  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  he  would 
get  those  eleven  pounds  of  goods  from  the  metropolis  of  his  state  for 
48  cents  less  than  he  now  pays  the  express  companies. 

Be  sure,  however,  to  notice  those  three  right-hand  columns. 

You  will  observe  that  the  Right  Honorable  John  Bovine,  an 
exporting  merchant  of  London — or  a  manufacturer,  if  you  please, 
of  Manchester  or  Leeds,  England— can  send  that  11 -pound  package 
to  you  in  Chicago,  Hot  Springs,  Fargo  or  elsewhere  in  the  United 
States — send  it  by  mail,  which  no  American  merchant  or  manufacturer 
can  do — at  from  90  cents  to  $3.00  less  carriage  cost  than  the  New  York 
merchant  can  send  it  to  you  by  express — the  only  means  our  present 
laws  and  methods  permit  him  to  use. 

Baron  Von  Stopper,  an  exporter  of  Berlin,  likewise  has  a  large 
advantage  over  the  New  York  merchant  in  supplying  your  parcel 
demands.  Even  Senor  Greaser  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  can  ship — 


332  POSTAL  RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

by  mail — eleven  pounds  of  kippered  tamales  or  sombreros  to  any 
point  in  the  country,  save  ten  states  within  shorthaul  range  of  New 
York  City,  and  have  an  edge  of  30  cents  to  $3.23  over  his  New  York 
City  competitor  in  supplying  your  parcel  order  wants. 

Great,  is  it  not?  Fine  system,  is  it  not,  to  "protect  home 
industries'?"  To  build  up  "foreign  trade?" 

But,  it  is  not  quite  so  bad  as  it  looks  for  the  very  reason  that  our 
"postal  agreements"  recognize  the  "tariff  wall"  that  is  built  around 
certain  "infants"  in  this  country.  Your  goods  from  England,  Ger- 
many or  Mexico  must  be  of  our  "free  list"  kind,  otherwise  they  must 
pay  a  rake-off  to  the  government.  As  that  is  pretty  stiff,  you  don't 
order  many  parcels  from  abroad.  You  buy  home  products — thus 
paying  the  tariff  rake-off  to  the  protected  "infant,"  instead  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

Does  it  not  appear  that  we  American  citizens  are  an  easily 
"worked"  bunch? 

In  connection  with  the  tabulation  just  presented,  should  be  noted 
the  fact  that  'millions  of  our  people  live  in  non-railroad  communities — 
live,  often,  many  miles  from  any  express  office,  while  a  postoffice  may 
be  near.  If  these  people  have  pressing  need  for  any  article  of  mer- 
chandise weighing  over  four  pounds  it  cannot  reach  them,  under 
existing  law,  by  mail.  They  must  order  it  sent  by  express  and  make 
the  long  drive  to  the  nearest  express  office  to  get  it. 

The  article  may  be  one  needed  for  the  health  of  the  family  or  it 
may  be  a  rod,  a  gear  wheel  or  other  part  of  some  machine  that  has 
broken  in  a  critical  hour  of  need — any  one  of  a  hundred  needs,  delay  in 
supplying  which  costs  money. 

It  was  carefully  figured  in  1900  that  our  rural,  non-railroad  com- 
munities alone  lost  $90,000,000  a  year  in  excessive  express  charges 
and  delays  in  delivery  by  reason  of  the  peculiar  if  not  studied  apathy 
of  their  government  in  the  matter  of  furnishing  even  a  reasonably 
adequate  domestic  parcels  post  service. 

The  hypothetical  rate  (1  cent  a  pound  or  $20.00  per  ton),  for 
parcels  carriage  and  delivery  by  post  is  low — maybe  a  little  too  low. 
If  so,  it  is  only  a  very  little,  if  it  is  figured  to  have  the  rate  cover  only 
the  actual  cost  of  the  service.  A  nation-wide  parcels  post  service,  if 
properly  organized  and  directed,  would,  it  must  be  remembered, 
handle  all  the  short  as  well  as  the  long  haul  business.  It  would  not, 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  333 

as  now,  permit  a  collusive  raiding  arrangement  between  the  railroads 
and  the  express  companies  by  which  the  latter  get  most  of  the  short- 
haul  shipments  and  leave  most  of  the  long-haul  parcels  to  be  handled 
by  the  mail  service. 

I  see  by  a  local  press  item,  that  the  Senate  Committee  on  Post- 
offices  and  Postroads  is  going  to  propose  in  the  bill  it  is  drafting  that 
parcels  of  eleven  pounds  in  weight  be  carried  by  the  mail  service  for 
50  cents — 10  cents  for  the  first  pound  and  4  cents  for  each  additional 
pound  or  fraction  thereof,  up  to  the  maximum  of  11  pounds.  Of 
course,  a  rate  of  50  cents  for  the  carriage  of  11 -pound  parcels  would 
be  a  great  betterment  over  the  present  rate  and  weight  regulations. 
But  a  rate  of  50  cents  for  an  11 -pound  package  is  away  too  high, 
figuring  on  short  and  long  haul  parcels,  unless  it  is  intended  to  make 
the  service  a  revenue  producer,  which  it  should  not  be.  The  com- 
mittee, I  gather  from  the  news  item,  has  recognized  the  fact  that  a 
50-cent  rate  is  too  high  on  short-haul  matter  and  are  considering  the 
recommendation  of  a  lower  rate  for  it — a  distance  scale  or  schedule 
of  rates.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that,  if  the  proposed  bill  becomes  law,  it 
will  carry  such  a  provision. 

It  is  said  the  committee  decided  upon  the  weight  and  rate  limits 
after  an  "exhaustive  investigation  of  all  the  parcels  post  systems  of 
the  world,"  and  it  was  pointed  out  that  this  investigation  disclosed 
the  fact  that  only  "five  powers"  reported  deficits  in  their  postal 
services  in  1909 — Luxemburg,  Chili,  Greece,  Mexico  and  Austria — 
the  deficits  ranging  from  $7,437  in  Luxemburg  to  $1,693,157  in 
Austria.  Of  these,  it  will  be  noted,  all  save  Austria  are  small  or  only 
partially  developed  countries.  None  of  them  have  rail  or  other 
transportation  facilities  at  all  comparable  to  those  of  this  country. 
Yet  our  government,  with  its  excessive  parcels  rate  and  ridiculously 
low  maximum  weight  limit  on  parcels  reported  a  deficit  of  $17,441,- 
719.82  in  its  postal  revenues  for  1908-9,  and  $6,000,000  in  1910. 

Whatever  the  action  that  may  be  taken  by  the  present  or  a 
future  Congress  looking  to  the  betterment  and  to  a  cheapening  of  the 
nation's  parcels  post  service,  one  thing  must  be  done  if  such  action 
be  made  effective — if  it  yield  the  results  it  is  alleged  are  expected  of 
it.  Such  action  must  carry  provisions  that  will  effectively  break 
up  the  present  collusive  understandings  and  arrangements  between 
the  railroads  and  the  express  company  interests,  which  arrangement 


334  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

has  for  years  been  raiding  the  postal  revenues  on  the  one  hand  and,  by 
greatly  excessive  rail  and  express  rates  for  carrying  parcel  freight, 
has  been  looting  the  people  on  the  other. 

This  can  be — and  should  be — done.  There  are  two  actions  which 
may  be  taken  by  the  government,  either  of  which  I  believe  would 
accomplish  that  most  desirable  and  necessary  result. 

On  previous  pages  (pages  227  and  228),  will  be  found  quoted  a 
section  of  the  law  of  1845 — a  law  for  the  establishing  and  regulation 
of  the  government  mail  service.  On  the  pages  256-257  will  be 
found  a  most  instructive  discussion  of  the  law  by  Mr.  Allan  L.  Benson. 
Turn  back  and  read  those  pages.  Mr.  Benson  is  always  worth  a 
second  reading. 

That  it  was  the  intention  of  the  legislators  of  that  time  to  make 
the  carriage,  handling  and  delivery  of  letters  and  "packets"  (small 
parcels  or  packages  of  any  sort  of  mailable  matter),  a  government 
monopoly,  there  can  be  no  valid  reason  to  doubt.  That  the  express 
companies  have  operated  and  are  operating  in  violation  of  Section 
181  of  that  law,  there  can  be  no  valid  reason  to  doubt.  That  Section 
181  of  the  enactment  of  1845  is  good,  sound  law  today,  there  can  be 
no  valid  reason  to  doubt.  That  the  express  companies  have  operated, 
and  continue  to  operate,  in  violation  of  that  law — in  open  defiance  of 
it — and  are  therefore  engaged  in  a  criminal  traffic,  there  can  be  no 
valid  reason  to  doubt. 

True,  they  have  a  very  peculiar  court  decision  to  protect  them 
in  their  violation  of  that  law.  I  call  it  a  "peculiar"  decision.  A 
more  fitting  term  might  be  used  in  describing  that  court  decision, 
and  the  use  of  such  a  term  would  be  fully  justified. 

One  of  the  two  actions  which  Congress  might  take  would  be  to 
amend  Section  181  of  its  Revised  Statutes  so  that  even  a  yokel,  as 
well  as  a  Federal  Judge,  may  clearly  see  that  the  carriage  of  packages 
and  parcels,  as  well  as  of  "packets,"  which  do  not  exceed  the  maxi- 
mum regulation  weight  and  are  of  mailable  class  and  kind,  is  "in- 
tended" to  be  the  exclusive  privilege  of  the  government. 

Such  an  amendment  to  the  law  would  force  the  express  com- 
panies out  of  business. 

The  other  action  which  coald  be  effectively  taken  would  be  to 
make  the  parcels  post  rate  so  low  and  the  maximum  weight  of  parcels 
so  liberally  high  that  the  railroads  and  express  raiders  would  quit  of 


POSTAL    RIDERS  AND    RAIDERS.  335 

their  own  accord,  which  they  would  do  as  soon  as  their  present 
tonnage  of  loot  is  seriously  cut  down.  Nothing  would  cut  into  that 
lootage  deeper  or  quicker  than  would  a  service  rated  and  weighted 
parcels  post. 

I  have  been  severe  in  my  strictures  and  condemnation  of  the 
express  and  railway  raiders.  In  evidence  that  my  condemnation  is 
deserved  I  desire  to  quote  two  or  three  people — people  who  have 
made  a  careful,  painstaking  study  of  the  game  these  raiders  have 
played,  and  yet  play,  and  of  the  practices  and  tricks  which  make  it  a 
"sure  thing"  for  the  high-finance  gentlemen  who  play  it. 

Mr.  Albert  W.  Atwood  wrote  a  series  of  three  most  informative 
articles  for  the  American  Magazine  under  the  caption,  "The  Great 
Express  Monopoly."  They  appeared  in  the  American  in  its  issues 
for  February,  March  and  April,  1911.  I  trust  the  publishers  will  not 
take  unkindly  my  quoting  Mr.  Atwood.  He  presents  some  facts 
which  so  conclusively  evidence  several  points  that  I  cannot  resist 
the  appeal  they  make  for  quotation. 

In  evidencing  the  fact  that  the  railroads  own  and  control  the 
express  companies  and  also  showing  how  that  ownership  and  control 
was  obtained  and  is  maintained,  Mr.  Atwood  writes  as  follows : 

It  has  frequently  been  asserted  by  merchants  and  shippers  that  the  stock 
issues  of  the  express  companies  are  merely  a  device  to  make  possible  the  exaction 
of  unreasonable  charges.  Perhaps  the  most  direct  case  in  point  is  that  of  the 
Pacific  Express  Company,  organized  in  1879  to  do  business  on  the  Union  Pacific 
and  Gould  Railroads.  Before  the  Indiana  Railroad  Commission  John  A.  Brewster, 
auditor  of  the  company,  recently  testified  that  there  were  twelve  stockholders 
and  $6,000,000  of  stock.  On  pages  784-785  of  the  record  there  appears  this 
colloquy: 

Q.  What  did  you  do  with  that  stock,  Mr.  Witness? 

A.  The  capital  stock  was  given  to  the  Wabash,  Union  Pacific,  and  Missouri 
Pacific  for  the  rights,  franchises. 

Q.  For  what  rights? 

A.  Franchises  and  rights  to  do  business. 

Q.  We  begin  to  understand  it;  it  wasn't  understood  before  that;  nothing  was 
received  by  the  Pacific  Express  Company  for  the  issue  of  this  $6,000,000  of  stock? 
Do  these  railroad  companies  own  the  stock  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  These  twelve  stockholders  are  the  railroads.  The  railroads  get  these 
6  per  cent  dividends  on  the  stock? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Before  another  State  Railroad  Commission  an  officer  of  the  company  stated  that 


336  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

so  far  as  he  knew  and  so  far  as  the  records  show  no  cash  was  received  for  the 
$6,000,000  stock.  The  Illinois  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commission  has  decided 
this  stock  was  issued  in  fact  and  in  law  without  consideration.  Ostensibly  the 
stock  was  issued  by  the  express  company  in  exchange  for  the  right  to  do  business 
over  the  lines  of  the  railroads,  but  all  the  express  companies  pay  a  fixed  percentage 
of  their  gross  receipts,  ranging  from  40  to  57 £  per  cent,  to  the  railroads  over  which 
they  operate. 

On  the  question  as  to  whether  express  companies  operate  at  a 
profit  or  not,  Mr.  Atwood  writes  as  follows  of  this  same  Pacific 
organization : 

Whatever  legal  view  we  may  take  of  this  curious  stock  issue,  there  is 
no  room  for  doubting  that  it  has  served  as  a  device  for  the  extortion  of  money 
from  the  shipping  public,  for  express  charges  are  made  high  enough  to  more 
than  pay  dividends  on  the  stock.  Starting  in  business  with  no  capital  except 
such  as  may  have  been  temporarily  loaned  to  it  by  the  railroads  in  control,  the 
Pacific  Express  Company  has  paid  dividends  of  $8,334,000  in  twenty  years  and 
in  addition  has  been  paying  to  the  railroads,  which  owned  all  its  stock,  about 
50  per  cent  of  its  gross  receipts  of  more  than  $7,000,000  a  year.  A  large  block 
of  the  stock  recently  changed  hands  at  $200  a  share,  and  yet  we  have  seen  how 
it  was  issued  without  consideration  in  cash  or  property.  Indeed  it  is  said  the 
company  operated  for  eight  years  before  the  stock  was  issued  at  all. 

In  speaking  to  the  same  point  as  applied  to  the  United  States 
Express  Company,  Mr.  Atwood  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  55 
per  cent  of  its  "stockholders"  have  entered  suit  to  wind  up  the 
company's  affairs  on  charges  of  mismanagement  by  its  dominating 
officers.  Mr.  Atwood  further  writes: 

Although  the  gravest  of  charges  of  mismanagement  and  waste  of  assets  have 
repeatedly  been  made  against  the  directors  of  the  United  States  Express  Company, 
a  profit  of  almost  15  per  cent  was  earned  by  the  company  on  the  capital  invested 
in  the  express  business  in  the  year  1909.  This  profit  would  have  been  still  greater 
had  general  trade  been  normal,  and  had  there  not  been  a  hiatus  between  the  loss 
of  one  large  contract  and  the  securing  of  another.  That  the  stockholders  have 
not  received  all  the  profits  proves  nothing.  Millions  have  gone  into  unnecessary 
real  estate  investment  and  large  salaries  have  been  paid,  but  earnings  on  the 
capital  actually  invested  have  clearly  shown  that  even  under  a  management 
whose  good  faith  and  ability  is  being  challenged  in  the  courts  there  is  an  ample 
return. 

As  long  ago  as  1875  a  writer  in  Harper's  Magazine  said  the  express  business 
had  already  created  fifty  millionaires,  a  statement  which  does  not  tax  the  credulity 
of  anyone  who  casts  a  glance  at  the  dividend  record  of  these  companies.  To  use 
the  calmly  judicial  words  of  the  Census  Bureau:  "In  no  other  business  is  it 
probable  that  so  little  money,  comparatively,  is  invested  where  the  gross  receipts 
are  so  large."  We  have  seen  that  new  capital  is  not  a  necessity  of  the  express 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  337 

business.     Unlike  the  railroads,  new  security  issues  to  raise  capital  are  never  sold 
to  the  investing  public. 

The  cappers  for  railroad  and  express  interests,  keep  the  atmos- 
phere agitated  with  talk  about  the  "uncertainty  and  irregularity" 
of  the  quantity  of  express  matter  to  be  carried,  "the  excessive  taxes 
paid,"  etc.  In  answer  to  such  bubble,  Mr.  Atwood  has  this  to  say: 

While  this  may  be  theoretically  true,  the  experience  of  years  has  shown  that 
the  patronage  of  these  companies  has  been  fairly  regular,  remunerative  and  grow- 
ing. Not  only  will  a  study  of  the  gross  receipts  prove  this  contention,  but  further 
confirmation  will  be  found  in  the  remarkable  series  of  excessive  dividends.  "We 
do  not  feel  that  any  extravagant  return  should  be  permitted  upon  the  business 
of  these  companies,"  said  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  Kinde  v. 
Adams  et  al.,  "for  it  involves  none  of  the  elements  which  entitle  an  investment  to  a 
high  return." 

When  the  Adams  Express  Company  enriched  its  shareholders  with  a  200 
per  cent  extra  dividend  in  1907,  stress  was  laid  upon  the  increase  in  taxation 
throughout  the  country.  How  ridiculous  this  is  can  be  seen  from  the  fact  that 
the  Adams  Company  paid  only  $145,184  in  taxes  in  the  entire  fiscal  year  of  1909, 
and  $202,234  in  1910,  although  its  extra  dividend  alone  amounted  to  $24,000,000. 
Profits  on  stock  and  bond  speculation  amounted  to  $418,979  in  the  year  1909,  and 
$1,943,889  in  1910.  The  American  Express  Company,  with  its  huge  resources, 
paid  but  $283,951  in  taxes  in  1909.  In  the  same  year  the  volume  of  its  banking 
business  alone  amounted  to  more  than  $250,000,000.  In  at  least  one  important 
state,  the  express  companies  paid  no  taxes  until  a  few  years  ago  and  in  Indiana  the 
companies  had  the  audacity  to  tell  the  Tax  Commissioner  that  they  had  little  or 
no  tangible  property  in  that  state.  When  Congress  voted  to  put  a  tax  of  two 
cents  on  every  express  transaction  to  raise  revenue  for  the  Spanish  War  the  com- 
panies made  the  shipper  pay,  and  when  the  shippers  objected  fought  the  case  to 
the  highest  courts. 

At  this  point  the  question  naturally  arises  as  to  how  the  express  companies 
have  been  able  to  carry  on  for  so  many  years  such  a  perfect  system  of  extracting 
money  from  the  public  without  being  seriously  molested.  The  answer  involves  a 
knowledge  of  the  relations  existing  between  the  railroads  and  the  express  com- 
panies, and  a  knowledge  of  the  complete  monopoly  which  exists  in  the  express 
business — a  monopoly  made  possible  only  because  of  these  very  relations. 

In  Pearson's  Magazine  appeared  two  forcefully  written  articles 
by  Mr.  Allen  L.  Benson  on  the  parcels  post.  The  articles  appeared  in 
Pearson's  in  February  and  March,  1911.  In  his  February  opening 
and  closing  Mr.  Benson  says  some  things  to  us  and  says  them  with  a 
kindly  bluntness  which  we  should  appreciate : 

Is  it  a  pleasure  to  you  to  be  treated  as  if  you  were  a  fool?  Do  you  never  tire 
of  acting  like  an  organ-grinder's  begging  monkey? 

These  questions  are  put  to  you  in  good  faith.     I  have  no  desire  to  insult 


338  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

you.  I  know  you  are  not  a  fool.  I  know  you  don't  like  to  beg.  Yet  here 
you  are  again,  with  your  little  red  cap  on  and  your  little  tin  cup  out,  begging 
for  a  parcels  post.  Begging  from  those  whom  you  should  order.  And  the 
gentlemen  from  whom  you  beg  treat  you  as  if  you  were  a  fool. 

Perhaps  you  believe  these  statements  are  not  so.  I  shall  soon  show  you 
that  they  are  so.  But  before  we  go  down  this  interesting  parcels-post  road, 
let  us  hang  a  lantern  to  the  wagon-tongue.  You  will  understand  the  scenery 
better  if  you  see  it  by  the  light  of  this  particular  lantern.  Here  it  is: 

Bad  government  is  largely  made  possible  by  the  mistaken  opinions  held 
toward  each  other  by  the  governing  classes  and  the  governed.  By  "governing 
classes"  I  don't  mean  Presidents  and  Congresses.  I  mean  the  great  capitalist 
interests  that  make  Presidents  and  Congresses.  The  governing  classes  under- 
estimate the  intelligence  of  the  people.  That  is  why  the  governing  classes  are 
always  in  process  of  yielding  something  to  the  people.  Depending  upon  the 
stupidity  of  the  people,  gross  wrongs  are  inflicted  that  are  righted  only  under  force, 
inch  by  inch. 

The  people,  on  the  other  hand,  have  too  exalted  an  opinion  of  both  the 
intelligence  and  the  patriotism  of  those  who  control  the  government.  They 
have  no  good  opinion  of  the  patriotic  impulses  of  the  great  capitalists,  but  they 
fail  to  note  that  the  great  capitalists  are  the  National  government.  Mr.  Morgan 
in  Wall  street  they  recognize.  But  Mr.  Morgan  in  Washington,  disguised  as 
Uncle  Sam,  they  do  not  recognize.  Therefore  they  behold  him  with  a  certain 
veneration.  They  have  been  taught,  since  childhood,  to  look  up  to  Uncle  Sam 
as  to  a  father.  He  is  the  government  in  breeches.  The  people  do  not  always 
agree  with  the  men  who  govern  them,  but  they  always  agree  with  the  government. 
The  grand  old  government  of  the  United  States  looks  good  to  them.  It  looks 
good  to  them  because  it  seems  to  embody  the  power,  the  will  and  the  virtue  of 
the  people. 

All  of  which  is  not  true.  No  government  is  much  better  than  the  men  who 
control  it.  If  the  men  who  control  it  are  bad,  the  government  is  bad.  If  a  few 
control  it,  the  rest  do  not  control  it.  If  a  few  use  it  to  get  more  than  belongs  to 
them,  the  rest  cannot  use  it  to  get  what  belongs  to  them.  If  a  few  control  the 
government  to  rob  the  rest  of  the  people,  the  government  is  not  the  friend,  but 
the  enemy,  of  the  rest  of  the  people. 

The  United  States  government  is  and  long  has  been  controlled  by  a  few  rich 
men.  These  men  have  used  and  are  using  the  government  to  enrich  themselves 
at  the  expense  of  the  rest  of  the  people.  I  do  not  mean  so  say  that  the  govern- 
ment never  performs  an  act  that  is  of  service  to  all  of  the  people,  but  I  do  mean  to 
say  that  when  there  is  a  conflict  between  the  interests  of  the  few  who  control  the 
government  and  the  interests  of  the  rest  of  the  people,  the  government  is  almost 
certain  to  take  the  side  of  the  few  as  against  the  many. 

The  little  guiding  group  of  rich  who  tell  you  that  a  high  tariff  helps  you  is  the 
same  little  guiding  group  that  tells  you  a  parcels  post  would  hurt  you. 
************          *** 

Is  it  a  pleasure  to  you  always  to  be  treated  as  if  you  were  a  fool?    Do  you 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  339 

never  tire  of  paying  16  cents  a  pound  on  mail  packages  limited  to  four  pounds, 
when  there  is  hardly  a  little  South  American  republic  or  fourth-class  European 
state  that  will  not  carry  at  least  eleven-pound  packages  for  a  cent  a  pound  or  less? 

Think  of  it — we  have  entered  into  agreements  with  forty-three  nations  that 
have  the  parcels  post  to  receive  and  deliver  their  parcels  when  directed  to  any 
person  in  this  country ;  we  are  permitting  the  Philippine  Government  to  establish 
a  parcels  post ;  we  have  agreed  to  receive  in  this  country  big  packages  at  low  rates 
for  delivery  abroad;  but  we  ourselves  have  no  such  rights  among  ourselves. 
We  must  not  only  pay  tribute  to  the  express  companies,  but  we  must  believe  that 
it  is  good  for  us  to  do  so. 

//  the  American  people  only  knew  their  power;  if  they  only  knew  their  power! 
1}  they  would  tear  off  their  party  labels  and  vote  as  they  talk  at  home  among  their 
neighbors,  they  could  push  this  country  half  a  century  ahead  at  the  next  election. 
Everybody  knows  something  is  wrong,  but  almost  everybody  votes  the  thoughts  of 
those  who  make  the  wrong. 

Shall  we  never  vote  for  ourselves? 

The  italics  in  the  last  paragraph  quoted  are  mine.  So,  too,  are 
the  sentiments  of  that  paragraph — both  the  expressed  and  the  implied. 
That  is  I  believe  in  them — I  believe  in  them  hard  and  stubbornly.  If 
my  readers  will  think  hard  about  them  for  a  few  minutes,  I  feel  confi- 
dent they  will  conclude  that  it  is  about  time  for  them,  for  all  of  us, 
to  act  on  Mr.  Benson's  advice — tear  off  our  party  labels  and  begin 
"to  vote  for  ourselves." 

In  support  of  his  charges  of  bad  faith  on  the  part  of  the  govern- 
ment in  giving  the  people  a  serviceable  parcels  post,  Mr.  Benson's 
remarks  are  most  illuminating.  He  makes  reference  to  a  public  or 
semi-public  document  of  the  government,  written  by  one  Mr.  Turner 
and  proceeds  as  follows: 

"  'This  will  open  a  great  business  for  American  retail  merchants,'  wrote  Mr. 
Turner  'Brazil  can  be  flooded  with  catalogues.  This  information,  in  advance, 
will  enable  those  desiring  to  go  after  business  to  prepare  for  it.' 

Mind  you,  these  are  only  occasional  sentences  from  his  enthusiastic  article. 
He  dwelt  at  length  upon  the  eagerness  of  the  Brazilians  to  buy  such  articles  as  we 
make.  He  even  became  specific  and  enumerated  some  of  the  articles  that  could 
be  advantageously  sent  by  parcels  post.  'This  opens  up  great  possibilities  for  the 
retail  shoe  houses,'  he  said,  for  instance,  'as  elegant  shoes  are  worn.'  Also,  there 
was  a  great  market  for  gloves,  embroideries,  ribbons,  silks,  stockings,  and  under- 
clothing. 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  spectacle  of  the  United  States  Government  making 
statements  to  business  men  through  a  publication  that  the  common  people  never 
read,  that  are  directly  opposed  to  the  statements  that  are  made  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States  in  congressional  debates  and  other  publications. 

Now,  ask  yourself  these  questions: 


340  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Would  the  establishment  of  a  parcels  post  by  Brazil,  which  we  have  per- 
mitted to  extend  to  this  country,  open  any  markets  for  Americans  in  Brazil  if 
parcels-post  rates  did  not  permit  American  merchants  to  deliver  their  goods  in 
Brazil  at  reduced  cost  ? 

Again  If  a  parcels-post  in  Brazil  will  enable  American  merchants  to  lay 
down  their  goods  in  Brazil  at  reduced  cost,  why  wouldn't  a  parcels  post  in  the 
United  States  enable  American  merchants  to  lay  down  their  goods  in  the  United 
States  at  reduced  cost  ? 

Furthermore  If  reduced  carrying  charges  would  enable  American  mer- 
chants to  capture  Brazilian  trade  by  reducing  selling  prices,  why  wouldn't  reduced 
carrying  charges  tend  toward  lower  selling  prices  in  the  United  States? 

Finally  Is  there  any  reason  on  earth  why  the  United  States  Government, 
which  is  opposed  to  a  parcels  post  in  this  country,  through  an  official  publication, 
welcomes  a  parcels  post  in  Brazil — is  there  any  reason  except  the  one  fact  that 
there  are  no  American  express  companies  in  Brazil? 

Figure  it  out  for  yourself.  I  have  figured  it  out  for  myself.  As  I  figure  it 
out,  the  United  States  Government  is  treating  us  as  if  we  were  a  little  weak  in  the 
head ;  as  if  we  are  just  foolish  enough  so  that  it  was  safe  to  print,  in  a  semi-public 
official  publication,  an  acknowledgment  that  all  of  its  excuses  for  not  giving  us  a 
parcels  post  are  really  impudent  lies.  ******** 

'Should  the  mail  trade  have  a  government  subsidy?'  asked  one  gentleman 
who  represented  an  association  of  jobbing  firms.  Let  us  see  how  much  honesty 
there  is  in  this  question  A  subsidy  implies  the  payment  of  money,  either  for 
nothing,  or  for  something  that  is  not  immediately  received  in  return.  That  is 
what  these  same  rich  gentlemen  mean  by  subsidy  when  they  ask  you  to  subsidize 
American  ships  What  element  of  subsidy  would  there  be  in  a  parcels  post  that 
enabled  the  government  to  derive  a  great  profit  from  the  mail-order  business? 
We  have  all  the  machinery  for  handling  'packets' — costly  postoffice  buildings, 
cars,  letter  carriers,  rural  mail  carriers.  Why  not  use  them?  Why  not  let  the 
rural  mail  carrier,  whose  average  load  is  now  25  pounds,  carry  500  pounds  at  a 
cent  a  pound?  The  postoffice  department  would  earn  $40,000,000  more  a  year 
if  the  rural  wagons  were  loaded  to  the  500-pound  limit. 

'The  fact  is,'  said  the  same  jobber  gentleman,  'that  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment cannot  carry  merchandise  by  parcels  post  without  having  to  meet  an  enor- 
mous annual  deficit  for  conducting  the  service.'  The  fact  is  that  the  fact  isn't. 
What  brazen  effrontery  to  declare  that  the  government  would  lose  money  carry- 
ing packages  at  a  cent  a  pound,  when  the  German  government  makes  money  by 
carrying  packages  at  a  little  more  than  half  a  cent  a  pound!  It  is  true  that 
German  rates  are  based  upon  distance,  but  it  is  also  true  that  Germany,  without 
any  mail  monopoly,  competes  with  all  comers  and  beats  them  out  with  low  tariffs. 
The  German  government  can  compete  with  the  German  express  companies 
because  the  German  parcels  post  will  accept  packages  up  to  a  weight  limit  of 
110  3-10  pounds,  while  our  Government  turns  over  to  the  express  companies 
everything  that  weighs  more  than  four  pounds. 

Furthermore,  if  the  carrying  of  packages  is  such  a  hazardous  business  that 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  341 

our  Government  should  not  dare  to  attempt  it,  how  comes  it  that  the  express 
companies  have  become  rich  at  it?  The  combined  capital  of  the  express  com- 
panies is  a  little  in  excess  of  $48,000,000.  For  years,  the  big  stockholders  in 
express  companies  have  been  apoplectic  with  wealth.  All  of  this  money  came 
from  somewhere.  All  of  this  money  came  from  those  who  consumed  products 
sent  by  express.  Only  a  few  weeks  ago  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
brought  out  the  fact  that  the  Adams  Express  Company's  business  in  New  England 
yielded  a  profit,  in  1909,  of  45  per  cent,  upon  the  investment.  Yet,  there  was 
nothing  brought  out  in  the  proceedings  to  show  that  the  Adams  Express  Company 
was  gouging  New  England  any  harder  than  it  was  the  rest  of  the  country,  or  that 
the  other  express  companies  were  not  doing  to  the  rest  of  the  country  approximate- 
ly what  the  Adams  was  doing  to  New  England.  If  you  had  the  Government's 
equipment  for  handling  express  matter,  would  you  feel  particularly  frightened 
at  a  proposition  to  give  you  a  monopoly  of  the  'packet'  business  at  an  average  rate 
almost  twice  that  of  the  German  Government's  average  rate?" 

Knowing  that  my  readers  have  not  wearied  of  Mr.  Benson,  I 
shall  presume  to  take  further  liberties  with  his  articles  on  our  subject. 
His  handling  of  the  point  I  have  raised — railroad  control  of  the 
express  companies — is  so  informative  and  so  able  that  I  would  do 
neither  my  readers  nor  my  subject  justice  were  I  not  to  quote  him 
and  do  it  right  here : 

The  railroads  have  become  the  express  companies,  not  in  legal  fiction,  but  in 
transportational  fact.  The  railroads  largely  own  the  express  companies,  entirely 
control  the  express  companies,  and,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  are  the  express 
companies.  We,  the  highly  intelligent  American  people,  simply  don't  know  these 
facts.  Never  has  it  seemed  to  occur  to  us  that,  since  Benjamin  Harrison  was 
President  and  John  Wanamaker  was  in  his  cabinet,  the  express  grafters  may  have 
devised  improved  ways  of  working  the  express  graft.  Therefore,  in  this  parcels 
post  matter,  we  don't  know  who  is  pushing  the  knife  that  we  feel  between  our  ribs. 
We  accuse  the  express  companies.  A  man  who  was  being  murdered  might  as  well 
accuse  the  shadow  of  his  murderer. 

Perhaps  the  facts  that  follow  will  show  you  who  are  behind  the  shadows  of 
the  express  companies.  I  quote  from  Senate  Document  No.  278,  Sixtieth  Con- 
gress: 

Stock  held  by  railways  in  express  companies $20,668,000 

Railway  securities  owned  by  express  companies 34,542,950 

Holdings  of  express  companies  in  the  stock  of  other  express 

companies 11,618,125 

Since  this  article  was  written  (Mr.  Benson  adds  in  a  footnote)  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  has  issued  a  report  in  which  railroad  holdings  in 
express  stock  are  given  at  $14,124,000.  The  same  report  says  the  "total  book 
value  of  property  and  equipment  of  13  express  companies  is  $22,313,575.53.'' 
The  figures  furnished  by  the  express  companies  are  evidently  somewhat  bewilder- 
ing to  the  commission,  which,  having  found  the  total  value  of  the  express  com. 


342  POSTAL    RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS. 

panics'  assets  to  be  $186,221,380.54,  remarks:  "It  is  evident  that  the  capital 
stock  of  these  companies  bears  no  relation  to  the  amount  invested  in  the  express 
business."  On  the  face  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission's  report,  the 
railroads  have  disposed  of  more  than  $6,000,000  worth  of  express  stock  since  the 
United  States  Senate  investigated  the  matter  during  the  life  of  the  Sixtieth 
Congress.  Yet  there  is  no  mention  of  such  a  transaction,  and  it  seems  exceedingly 
unlikely  that  the  railroads  have  suddenly  reversed  their  policies  and  become  sellers 
instead  of  buyers  of  express  stock.  What  seems  more  likely  is  that  both  the  rail- 
roads and  the  express  companies  are  continuing  the  policy  to  use  figures  to  conceal 
facts.  Gentlemen  who  can  give  $186,000,000  worth  of  assets  a  "book  value"  of 
$22,000,000  might  have  no  difficulty  in  compelling  figures  to  turn  flip-flaps  upon 
almost  any  occasion. 

Please  notice  that  railroad  companies — not  railroad  men,  railroad  companies 
— own  more  than  $20,000,000  of  stock  in  express  companies.  The  express  com- 
panies are  capitalized  at  only  $48,000,000.  Railroad  companies  therefore  own 
almost  half  of  the  stock  of  the  express  companies.  Railroad  men  like  Mr.  Gould, 
the  Vanderbilts  and  Mr.  Morgan  also  own  stock  in  express  companies.  Railroad 
men  presumably  do  not  vote  their  private  holdings  of  express  stock  in  opposition 
to  the  manner  in  which  they  vote  the  express  stock  owned  by  the  railways  they 
control.  But,  even  if  railway  men  owned  no  express  stock,  the  ownership  by 
railways  of  a  solid  block  of  more  than  $20,000,000  of  express  stock  would  enable 
the  railways  to  control  the  express  companies.  Mr.  Morgan  controls  many  cor- 
porations in  which  he  holds  only  a  minority  interest.  It  is  the  way  of  big  men  to 
control  more  than  they  own. 
********  ******* 

Let  us  assume  that  you  attach  no  significance  to  the  ownership  by  the  rail- 
ways of  almost  half  of  the  stock  of  the  express  companies.  You  don't  believe 
the  railroads  would  take  the  trouble  to  get  control  of  $3,500,000  more  stock  and 
thus  control  the  companies.  You  want  to  be  shown. 

All  right.     You  don't  mind  using  your  common  sense?    Good. 

Wouldn't  railroad  companies  be  incorporated  fools  if  they  didn't  control  the 
express  companies?  Couldn't  the  railroad  companies,  if  they  cared  to,  control  the 
express  companies,  even  though  the  railroad  companies  owned  not  a  share  of  stock 
in  any  of  the  express  companies?  What  is  an  express  company? 

An  express  company  is  a  corporation  that  is  engaged  in  transportation.  Not 
a  single  express  company  owns  a  foot  of  railway  track,  a  locomotive,  a  round- 
house or  a  water  tank.  Not  a  single  express  company  employs  an  engineer,  a 
fireman,  a  train  dispatcher,  or  a  section  hand.  Not  a  single  express  company 
could  carry  a  bar  of  soap  from  New  York  to  Albany  without  using  all  of  the 
mentioned  instruments  of  transportation,  besides  many  others.  In  other 
words,  an  express  company  is  an  institution  engaged  in  transportation  without 
owning  any  of  the  means  of  transportation.  It  exists  only  by  sufferance.  So 
long  as  railroad  companies  are  willing  to  haul  the  cars  of  an  express  company,  the 
express  company  may  do  business — but  no  longer.  An  express  company,  if  ill- 
treated,  has  no  other  place  to  go.  It  cannot  hire  a  department  store  company  to 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  343 

haul  its  cars,  nor  a  dry-goods  firm,  nor  a  manufacturer  of  hats.  An  express 
company  must  go  to  railroads  for  its  transportation  facilities,  accept  the  best 
terms  it  can  get,  or  go  out  of  business. 

Is  it  not  so?  How  comes  it,  then,  that  you  never  hear  of  rows  between 
express  companies  and  railroad  companies?  How  comes  it  that  the  same  railroads 
that  are  always  trying  to  squeeze  you  on  freight  rates  apparently  never  try  to 
squeeze  the  express  companies  on  rates  for  hauling  cars?  The  express  companies 
are  exceedingly  fat  birds.  They  are  absolutely  in  the  power  of  the  railroad 
companies.  If  you  owned  the  only  vacant  house  in  the  world  and  a  wanderer 
must  rent  from  you  or  die  in  the  street,  you  would  not  have  him  more  completely 
in  your  power  than  the  railroad  companies  have  the  express  companies. 

Yet  the  railroad  companies  are  frying  the  express  companies  to  a  frazzle. 
The  New  York  Central  Railroad  Company  takes  40  per  cent  of  the  gross  receipts 
of  the  express  company  that  operates  over  its  lines.  But  the  frying  is  entirely 
friendly,  and  therefore  the  express  companies  do  not  cry  out  against  it.  A  station 
agent  does  not  complain  because  the  railroad  company  for  which  he  works  takes 
from  him  the  money  for  the  tickets  he  has  sold.  He  expects  to  give  up  the 
money.  The  officers  of  express  companies  expect  to  give  up  the  money  they  take 
in.  That  is  what  they  are  there  for.  If  they  were  otherwise  disposed  they  would 
not  be  there.  The  $20,000,000  block  of  express  stock  held  by  railroads  would 
keep  them  out.  Can  you  imagine  an  express  company  giving  40  per  cent  of  its 
gross  receipts  to  a  railway  company  if  the  directors  of  the  express  company  were 
not  controlled  by  the  railway  company? 

Please  get  the  full  meaning  of  that  New  York  Central  arrangement.  It  is 
not  a  mere  matter  of  40  per  cent.  It  is  a  matter  of  40  per  cent  of  the  gross  receipts 
and  then  perhaps  50  per  cent  of  what  is  left.  In  other  words,  the  railroad  com- 
pany first  takes,  as  a  carrier,  four-tenths  of  the  express  company's  receipts.  As  a 
stockholder  in  the  express  company,  the  railroad  next  takes  almost  half  of  the 
net  profits. 

************ 

In  both  surveying  the  Canadian  express  situation  and  giving  the  order  to 
reduce  rates,  Judge  Mabee,  chairman  of  the  commission,  said : 

"Cut  short  of  all  the  trimmings,  the  situation  is  that  the  shipper  by  express 
makes  a  contract  with  the  railway  company  through  the  express  company.  The 
whole  business  could  go  just  as  it  now  does  without  the  existence  of  any  express 
company  at  all  by  simply  substituting  railway  employees  and  letting  the  railways 
take  the  whole  of  the  toll  in  the  first  instance." 

As  showing  how  freight  tariffs  are  manipulated  by  the  railroads 
to  force  the  people  to  make  light  shipments  by  express  and  pay  the 
looting  rates  the  express  companies  charge,  the  following  by  Mr. 
Benson  should  be  read : 

In  what  essential  particular  does  the  conduct  of  the  American  express 
business  differ  from  the  conduct  of  the  Canadian  express  business?  The  Canadian 


344  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

express  companies  collect  money  from  the  public  and  hand  it  over  to  the  rail- 
roads. What  do  our  express  companies  do? 

At  this  point,  some  gentlemen  may  be  moved  to  ask.  Why  is  an  express 
company?  At  first  glance,  it  does  seem  rather  strange  that  the  railroads  should 
bother  to  do  business  through  express  companies  if  the  railroads  not  only  haul  the 
express  cars,  but  get  the  money  the  public  pays.  Yet  there  is  nothing  strange 
about  it,  as  we  shall  see  when  we  consider  what  the  express  business  is. 

Part  of  the  express  business  is  an  effort  to  commit  a  crime  for  pay.  The 
rest  of  the  express  business  is  an  effort  to  perform  a  service  at  an  exorbitant  rate 
of  compensation.  In  other  words,  part  of  the  express  business  is  the  carrying  of 
"packets"  that  should  be  sent  only  by  mail,  and  the  carrying  of  which  by  a  private 
person  or  corporation  is  a  crime,  and  the  rest  of  the  business  is  the  carrying  of  light 
freight  that  should  go  by  fast  freight  at  a  rate  much  below  the  express  rate. 

The  express  business,  like  every  other  business  that  has  thriven,  was  based 
upon  a  public  need.  The  public  need  was  for  a  fast  freight  service  for  light  freight. 
The  railroad  managers  of  forty  years  ago  were  not  disposed  to  give  the  service,  but 
they  were  willing  to  haul  cars  for  an  express  company  that  wanted  to  carry  fast 
freight  at  a  high  rate. 

In  this  small,  timid  way  the  express  business  began.  The  crime  of  carrying 
mail  in  competition  with  the  government  had  never  been  considered.  When 
shippers  offered  mailable  packages  for  transmission,  they  were  accepted,  but 
postage  stamps  were  affixed  to  comply  with  the  law.  Even  the  volume  of  light 
freight  was  relatively  small.  The  railroads  themselves  kept  all  of  the  light  freight 
traffic  they  could.  It  was  not  until  the  railroads  invested  heavily  in  and  ob- 
tained control  of  the  express  companies  that  deliberate  efforts  were  made  to 
compel  the  public  to  send  light  freight  by  express. 

Let  me  explain  precisely  what  I  mean  by  this.  The  minimum  freight  rate 
from  Chicago  to  North  Platte,  Neb.,  is  $1.10.  Whether  a  package  weighs  five 
pounds  or  100  pounds,  the  charge  is  the  same. 

Suppose  you  want  to  send  a  ten-pound  package.  A  dollar  and  ten  cents 
seems  an  exorbitant  charge,  especially  when  the  fact  is  considered  that  a  ten- 
pound  package,  sent  by  freight,  probably  would  not  reach  its  destination  in  less 
than  ten  days.  You  look  up  express  rates  and  find  that  you  can  send  the  package 
for  55  cents,  with  a  certainty  of  delivery  within  forty-eight  hours.  Of  course  you 
send  the  package  by  express. 

What  has  happened?  Apparently,  the  express  company  has  saved  you  55 
cents.  Actually,  the  railroad  company  has  clubbed  you  into  the  clutches  of  the 
express  company.  The  railroad  company  never  expected  you  to  pay  $1.10  for 
the  transmission  of  a  ten-pound  package.  In  the  good  old  days  when  the  express 
companies  were  not  owned  by  the  railroad  companies,  and  the  railroad  companies 
were  not  controlled  by  a  little  group  of  men  in  Wall  Street,  the  freight  rates  for 
ten-pound  and  hundred-pound  packages  were  not  the  same.  The  railroads 
wanted  to  carry  small  packages  and  made  rates  that  brought  them  in.  But  the 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  345 

express  companies  showed  the  possibility  af  collecting  a  higher  rate  for  quick 
delivery.  For  this  reason,  a  certain  amount  of  business  naturally  came  to  the 
express  companies.  But  after  the  railroads  obtained  control  of  the  express 
companies,  resort  was  had  to  artificial  means  to  drive  business  over  to  the  high- 
priced  express  companies.  The  freight  rate  for  100  pounds  was  established  as  the 
•minimum  rate  for  all  lighter  packages.  No  one  is  expected  to  pay  this  exorbitant 
rate,  but  it  is  there  for  everyone  to  look  at. 

Slow  freight  delivery  is  also  apparently  employed  by  the  railroads  to  compel 
the  public  to  ship  by  express.  If  one  have  a  full  hundred  pounds  to  send  a  short 
distance,  he  will  find  the  minimum  freight  rate  lower  than  the  express  rate.  But 
he  will  also  have  reason  to  believe  that  freight  trains  are  drawn  by  snails.  The 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  and  the  New  York  Central  recently  struggled  ten  days  to 
bring  a  hundred-pound  package  forty  miles  to  me.  An  express  company  would 
have  performed  the  same  service  over-night.  If  the  railroads  had  wanted  the 
business,  they  would  have  required  no  more  than  two  days. 

Now,  I  have  quoted  extendedly  from  both  Mr.  Atwood  and  Mr. 
Benson.  I  have  done  so,  because  they  wrote  not  only  what  I  have 
quoted  but  much  more  that  I  would  like  to  quote,  and  each  of  them 
has  handled  his  subjects  pointedly  and  forcefully  conclusive.  The 
call  for  "copy"  by  my  publisher,  will,  I  trust,  argue  my  excuse  with 
the  publishers  of  Pearson's  and  The  American  magazines  for  having 
drawn  so  largely  upon  their  columns  without  first  asking  and  securing 
their  permission  to  do  so. 

But  it  seems  to  me  I  can  hear  some  barker  for  the  interests  bark- 
ing :  '  'Yellow  writers !  Yellow  magazines !' ' 

A  few  years  since,  the  fling  of  that  appellation  "yellow"  may 
have  had  some  influence — probably  did  have  some  influence  among 
the  thoughtless.  But  millions  of  the  then  indifferent  and  thoughtless 
people  have  become  serious  and  thoughtful  recently.  To  such 
there  is  no  approbrium  in  the  word  "yellow"  as  the  barkers  fling  it  at 
newspapers  and  magazines  which  attack  and  tell  the  truth  about  the 
interests  for  which  the  barkers  bark.  In  fact,  the  word  has  become 
an  appellation  of  honor  rather  than  of  discredit — of  repute  rather  than 
of  disrepute. 

Here  is  another  quotation — two  of  them.  They  are  from  an 
article  in  Pearson's  Magazine,  February,  1912,  issue.  Get  the  maga- 
zine and  read  the  whole  article.  The  article  is  captioned  "The 
Railroad  Game.1'  It  will  richly  compensate  you: 

I  chanced  to  meet  a  man  who  is  now  president  of  one  of  the  great  Western 
railroad  systems.  He  chided  me  good-naturedly  about  my  antagonism  to  the 


346  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

railroads.  Finally  he  said :  *  *  *  "You  are  too  big  a  man  to  be  fighting 
the  railroads.  Come  get  into  the  game  with  us.  It  isn't  how  much  money  we 
make,  but  how  much  we  can  conceal  that  counts  in  the  railroad  business." 
*************** 
These  figures  do  not  take  into  consideration  at  all  the  operations  of  the 
numerous  express  companies  which  impose  upon  the  people  a  burden  approx- 
imating $125,000,000  a  year  while  their  actual  investment  for  all  purposes  does 
not  exceed  $6,000,000  a  year.  These  companies  all  earn  prodigiously.  All  pay 
big  dividends.  All  have  big  surplus  funds,  and  frequently  have  big  melon  cut- 
tings. In  one  of  these  a  few  years  ago  $24,000,000  were  distributed  among  the 
stockholders  of  a  single  company.  And  after  all,  these  companies  amount  in 
actual  service  to  the  people  to  no  more  than  a  parcels  post  which  the  government 
should  have  established  long  ago.  With  government  control  of  the  railroads 
this  pernicious  form  of  extortion  would  end.  In  European  countries  express 
companies  do  not  exist.  There  the  parcels  post  is  supreme,  satisfactory  to  the 
people  and  remunerative  to  the  governments. 

Of  course,  the  writer  of  the  above  when  he  mentions  $6,000,000 
as  the  "actual  investment  for  all  purposes"  means  all  the  actual  in- 
vestment for  all  express  service  purposes.  In  that  statement  he  is 
entirely  correct. 

But  who  is  the  writer?  Well,  the  man  who  made  the  state- 
ments just  quoted  is  Mr.  O.  C.  Barber,  the  American  "Match  King." 
Certainly  no  one — not  even  the  most  courageous  and  venturesome 
hired  liar  of  the  raiding  combinations — will  call  Mr.  Barber  "yellow." 

"Why?"  Well,  Mr.  Barber  has  a  lot  of  real  long-headed  and 
hard-headed  sense.  He  also  has  money.  He  has  a  whole  lot  of  money. 
That  makes  Mr.  Barber  a  "strong"  man,  as  Mr.  Benson  puts  it,  in  the 
calculating  eyes  and  minds  of  public  bubblers.  Not  only  has  Mr. 
Barber  money,  but,  as  Pearson's  editor  points  out,  "  he  is  a  man  of 
affairs."  He  has  been  a  man  of  affairs  for  fifty  years.  He  is  an 
officer  or  director  in  companies  which  have  a  capital  of  fifty  million 
dollars.  Their  combined  freight  shipments  are  from  150,000  to  200,000 
cars  per  year,  and  go  to  all  parts  of  the  world." 

No,  there  is  nothing  of  the  yapped  "yellow"  about  Mr.  Barber. 
When  the  barkers  bark  of  him,  the  trajectory  of  their  language  will 
carry  it  scarcely  beyond  the  walls  or  to  the  banqueters.  In  most 
cases  the  barker's  voice,  when  adversely  criticising  Mr.  Barber,  will 
take  that  humble,  pendant  expression  so  universally  characteristic 
of  the  tail  of  a  scared  dog. 

Mr.  Barber  is  "strong."     If  you  don't  know  it  get  the  February, 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  347 

1912,  Pearson's  and  read  his  article  on  "The  Railroad  Game."  You 
will  know  it  then. 

The  clackers  who  clack  for  those  who  profit  by  the  outrageous 
parcels  post  service  in  this  country  now,  will  tell  you,  of  course,  that 
Germany,  France  and  some  other  countries  can  "afford"  to  give  their 
citizens  lower  postal  carriage  rates,  "because  the  governments  own 
the  railroads  and  have  their  mails  carried  free." 

It  is  sufficient  to  say  in  answer  to  such  clack  that  if  we  can  have 
a  cheap,  efficient  parcels  post  service  only  by  owning  the  railroads, 
then  let  us  own  them. 

Why  not?  A  good,  cheap  parcels  post  service  is  worth  it — 
worth  it  to  you,  to  me,  to  every  man,  woman  and  child  of  the  country, 
both  to  those  living  and  to  the  generations  yet  unborn. 

Yes,  sirs,  such  a  parcels  post  service  is  worth  more  to  our  people 
than  our  railroads  cost  to  build,  or  would  cost  to  rebuild  or  to  buy. 
Why  do  I  say  that  ?  I  say  it  because  it  is  a  fact — a  fact  that  needs  but 
a  line  or  two  to  evidence. 

1.  Such  a  parcels  post  service  would  save  our  people  more  than 
$300,000,000  every  year. 

2.  At  2  per  cent  (a  rate  at  which  the  government  can  borrow 
all  the  money  it  wants),  three  hundred  million  dollars  would  pay  the 
interest  on  $15,000,000,000. 

3.  Fifteen  billions  of  dollars  is  more  than  either  the  "book"  or 
the  "market"  value  of  all  the  railroads  in  this  country — "water" 
included.     It  is  more  than  twice  their  tangible,  or  construction,  value. 

So,  if  we  can  have  cheap,  reliable  parcels  post  service  only  when 
the  "government  own  the  railroads,"  then  let's  get  busy. 

One  of  the  much  worn  objections  to  a  cheap  parcels  post  service 
is  that  it  cannot  be  established  and  profitably  operated,  as  it  has  been 
in  those  countries  which  own  the  mail-carrying  roads  and  pay  much 
lower  salaries  to  the  operators  of  the  service. 

In  reply,  I  will  say  that  in  neither  Great  Britain,  nor  in  any 
country  of  continental  Europe  are  all  the  rail-mail  roads  owned  by  the 
government.  But  those  countries  do  control  all  their  railroads — 
and  that  is  exactly  what  this  government  must  soon  do  or  the  railroads 
will  control  it. 

To  tell  how  these  governments  got  control  and  keep  control  of 
their  railroads  is  another  story.  In  fact,  it  is  a  story  for  each  of  the 


348  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

countries.  Suffice  it  to  say  here  that  they  do  control  them.  One 
element  of  that  control  compels  the  railroads  to  carry  a  large  portion 
of  the  mails  free  of  charge. 

In  Great  Britain,  all  regular  trains  carry  at  least  one  mail  car 
free,  or  at  a  mere  nominal  charge,  and  the  trunk  line  roads  are  re- 
quired to  turn  out  extra  mail  trains  of  ten  cars  each  on  demand  of 
the  postoffice  authorities.  For  such  a  train  the  road  can  charge  no 
more  for  the  run  than  the  average  cost  of  an  average  passenger  train. 

France  guarantees  and,  I  believe,  pays  the  interest  on  a  70,000,- 
000  franc  railway  bond  issues.  That  is  equivalent  to  $14,000,000. 
At  3  per  cent  the  interest  amounts  to  $420,000  a  year.  For  that  sum 
the  railroads  carry  all  the  regular  mails  free — carry  them  under 
government  direction  and  stipulation.  Last  year  we  paid  our  railroads 
$49,330,638.24  for  carrying  our  mails.  The  French  roads  also  carry 
the  officials,  the  soldiery,  and  all  military  supplies  jree. 

That,  in  brief,  is  about  what  the  French  government  compels  the 
railroads  of  France  to  do. 

And  those  roads  are  all  paying  fair  returns  on  the  money  invested 
in  them! 

It  was  only  a  few  brief  years  since  the  railroads  of  the  German 
Empire  were  all  in  the  hands  of  private  owners — of  "frenzied  finan- 
ciers" who  robbed  both  the  government  and  the  people  in  outrageous 
mail,  freight  and  passenger  rates.  Germans  will  not  stand  for  such 
conditions  long.  The  people  shouted  aloud  their  grievances  and 
demanded  redress — demanded  a  remedy. 

The  German  government  heard  and  heeded  the  demands  of  its 
people.  It  usually  does.  When  it  started  to  give  its  people  relief  it 
was  met  on  every  hand  with  just  the  same  sort  of  talk  as  has  been 
heard  in  this  country  for  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

''You  can't  cut  down  the  rates,  for  the  roads  are  now  earning 
barely  enough  to  pay  fair  interest  on  the  investment." 

"You  can't  trespass  upon  the  'sacred  rights'  of  property." 

"You  can't  think  of  taking  such  action!  Why,  it  would  create 
a  financial  upheaval — a  panic — causing  widespread  disaster  and 
bankrupting  the  railway  companies." 

"You  cannot  possibly  be  so  inconsiderate  as  to  endanger  the 
savings  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  widows  and  orphans  who 
have  invested  in  our  stocks  and  bonds" — and  a  lot  more  of  like  junk. 


POSTAL  -RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  349 

But  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  was  a  clear-headed,  dean- 
minded  old  German,  with  the  rugged  honesty  for  which  his  race  is 
justly  noted.  Well,  this  Chancellor  listened  with  courteous  dignity 
to  all  their  "you  can't  do  this,"  "You  can't  do  that,"  etc.,  until  it  was 
made  quite  clear  to  his  mind  that  frenzied  financiers  and  railroad 
grafters  in  his  country  were  dictating  as  to  the  powers  and  policies  of 
his  government. 

What  happened  then  ?  Why,  as  Creelman  put  in  writing  of  the 
incident,  when  this  grand  old  Von  heard  enough  of  those  "you 
can'ts"  to  make  their  object  and  purpose  clear  to  him,  he  jumped  to 
his  feet  and  turned  loose  a  few  yards  of  forceful  German  language 
which,  translated,  summarized  and  anglicized,  would  sound  something 
like  this: 

"7  can't!     Well,  you  just  watch  me!" 

"Did  he  give  'em  anything  worth  looking  at?"  Oh,  but  didn't 
he  ?  The  honest  old  Von  sat  quietly  into  their  own  game,  played  with 
their  own  marked  cards  and  "beat  'em  to  a  frazzle,"  as  our  strenuous 
ex-President  would  put  it.  Did  he  buy  up  the  roads,  paying  for  all 
the  aqua  pur  a  they  had  tanked  up? 

Well,  hardly!  It  was  control  Von  wanted,  and  ownership  was 
neither  immediately  nor  particularly  sought,  beyond  the  point  neces- 
sary to  that  control. 

As  I  remember  the  story,  he  quietly  put  some  agents  on  the 
floor  of  the  Berlin  stock  bourse  and  before  the  gentlemen  who  had 
handed  him  that  miscellaneous  assortment  of  "can'ts"  knew  what 
had  happened,  Von  had  control  of  one  or  two  of  the  German  trunk 
lines.  Then  the  way  he  made  those  friends  of  the  "poor  widows  and 
orphans"  see  things  was  profoundly  and,  for  a  few  weeks,  almost 
exclusively  awful.  He  did  not  buy  the  road  for  his  government. 
He  merely  bought  control. 

His  government  having  control,  he  next  slashed  all  the  silk  and 
frills  out  of  rail  rates  on  the  road  or  roads  controlled. 

"What  was  the  result?"  Why,  the  "can't"  venders  were  on 
their  knees  to  him  in  six  months.  In  a  year  the  German  government 
controlled  its  railroads  and  there  was  not  a  railway  patriot  in  the 
Empire  who  was  not  busy  telling  the  Chancellor  how  many  more 
things  he  could  do,  if  he  wanted  to  and,  in  fact,  urging  him  to  do  some 
of  them. 


350  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

And  the  "widows  and  orphans,"  or  other  legitimate  investors  in 
the  securities  of  the  German  roads,  lost  not  one  cent  of  earned  income 
in  the  passing  of  control  from  private  to  government  hands.  As  a 
result,  the  German  government  is  making  money  from  its  owned 
railroads.  The  net  revenues  of  the  German  Government  from  its 
railroads  is  now  annually  about  $250,000,000.  From  1887  to  1906, 
the  roads  paid  into  the  government's  exchequer  about  $1,400,000,000. 
It  has  saved  money  from  its  controlled  roads  and  is  furnishing  its  people 
a  cheap  and  most  serviceable  parcels  post.  So  much  for  the  cheap 
foreign  mail-carriage  and  the  way  the  "cheap  foreigners"  got  it. 

Now,  as  to  salaries  paid.  Mail  carriers  and  clerks  in  this  country 
are  paid  something  under  $1,000  a  year.  Railway  mail  clerks  are 
paid  an  average  of  $1,165 — and  the  latter  work  only  one-half  the  time 
for  full  pay.  I  have  no  information  at  hand  as  to  the  pay  of  mail 
carriers  and  clerks  in  foreign  countries,  but  I  have  the  figures  for  the 
pay  of  railway  mail  clerks  in  Great  Britain,  Germany  and  France. 
So,  we  will  make  comparison  of  the  pay  in  that  class  of  service.  They 
stand  as  follows :  Per  Year. 

In  the  United  States $1,165 

In  Great  Britain 780 

In  Germany  515 

In  France  610 

There,  now,  you  see  the  shocking  disparity  in  the  very  worst 
and  all  of  its  enormity — the  way  it  is  usually  presented  by  "farmers" 
in  Congress  who  are  cultivating  express  company  crops.  But  let  us 
look  into  those  figures  a  little  further. 

Information  carefully  collected  and  collated,  both  by  official 
and  private  agents,  among  the  former  being  the  Department  of 
Commerce  and  Labor  of  our  own  government,  has  conclusively  shown 
that  living  in  England  and  in  the  countries  of  Continental  Europe  is 
from  thirty  to  forty  per  cent  cheaper  than  in  this  country. 

Let  us  take  30  per  cent — the  lowest  reported  estimate  of  the 
difference  in  the  cost  of  living — subsistence,  clothing,  housing, 
schooling,  amusements,  etc. — and  see  how  the  figures  look  in  com- 
parison as  to  pay  of  railway  mail  clerks :  Per  Year. 

In  the  United  States $1,165.00 

In  Great  Britain 1,114.30 

In  Germany  734.30 

In  France  .  871.43 


POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS.  351 

The  enormity  of  the  difference,  you  will  observe,  is  not  so  shock- 
ingly enormous  as  it  appears  in  heeler's  figures  first  shown.  But 
even  the  last  set  of  figures  does  not  afford  a  just  comparison.  Here 
is  why: 

The  English  railway  clerk  is  allowed  $160  a  year  as  "travel  pay." 
The  German  rail  man  is  provided  free  a  house  that  is  worth  an  annual 
rental  of  $135  in  Germany.  Here,  it  would  rent  for  from  $240  to 
$360.  In  addition  to  his  "salary"  the  French  railway  mail  clerk  is 
allowed  $180  "travel  pay"  and  is  also  provided  free  with  a  house  of  a 
rental  value  of  $80  per  year — a  house  that  would  rent  here  at  from 
$160  to  $300  per  year.  Making  these  little  additions  to  the  actual 
service  pay  of  those  "cheap  foreigners,"  let's  see  how  they  compare 
with  our  "high  salaried"  railway  mail  clerks.  We  will  figure  the 
"travel  pay"  allowances  at  its  purchasing  power  in  buying  a  living 
and  for  the  rent  allowances  we  will  add  the  lowest  equivalent  given 
above  of  corresponding  housing  in  this  country. 

On  that  basis  the  stack-up  is  as  follows : 

Per  Year. 

In  the  United  States $1,165.00 

In  Great  Britain : 1,344.30 

In  Germany 974.30 

In  France 1,288.57 

Those  "cheap  foreigners,"  who  are  efficiently  operating  a  cheap 
parcels  post,  you  see,  come  out  of  the  wash  in  pretty  fair  shape  after 
all,  when  compared  with  our  "high  salaried"  postal  service  men. 

But  even  the  last  table  does  not  present  the  whole  truth  as  to  the 
lie  so  often  yapped  about  by  the  tools  of  the  private  interests  in  this 
country  that  are  opposing  the  betterment  and  cheapening  of  our 
parcels  post  service. 

The  railway  mail  clerks  of  England,  Germany  and  France  not 
only  get  full  pay  while  laid  up  from  temporary  injury,  the  same  as  do 
our  rail  postal  men,  but  their  governments  pay  those  "cheap  foreign- 
ers" a  pension  when  they  get  old  or  are  permanently  injured — pay 
it  for  the  remaining  years  those  "cheap"  mail  handlers  live! 

Among  the  most  brazen,  yet  most  frequently  used,  objections  to 
a  cheap  and  serviceable  parcels  post  is  that  it  would  "benefit  but  very 
few  people  in  the  country's  vast  population,"  or  other  vocalized 
breath  of  similar  purport  and  purpose. 


352  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS. 

Objectors  who  use  this  argument  belong  to  one  of  two  classes: 
They  are  either  fools  or  think  you  are,  or  they  are  men  whose  sense  of 
the  right  and  wrong  of  things,  commonly  designated  as  conscience, 
got  lost  in  their  transit  from  diapers  to  dress  suits. 

The  "argument"  is  not  worth  a  line  of  consideration  were  it  not 
so  frequently  used  by  objectors  of  the  two  classes  just  indicated.  A 
man — a  full-sized  man — who  can  give  it  more  than  a  smile  ought  to 
hire  a  janitor  and  a  couple  of  scrub  women  to  clean  up  his  garret  and 
dust  off  its  furnishings. 

But,  seriously  speaking,  let's  think  a  moment  about  "the  few" 
people  who  would  be  benefited  by  a  cheap  parcels  post  service. 

There  are  95,000,000  or  more  folks  in  this  country. 

There  are  about  36,000,000  of  that  number  engaged  in  farming, 
farm  labor,  stock-raising  and  other  agricultural  occupations,  counting 
the  dependent  families. 

Counting  the  dependent  families.  Those  "few"  would  be  ben- 
efited, would  they  not? 

Counting  wives  and  babies,  there  are  somewhere  around  22,000,- 
000  of  our  folks  engaged  in  the  mechanical  trades  and  manufacturing. 

Those  "few"  would  be  benefited,  would  they  not? 

Among  our  folks  are,  counting  families  as  before,  not  less  than 
16,000,000  domestic  servants,  saloon,  hotel  and  restaurant  people, 
policemen,  firemen,  soldiers,  sailors  and  laborers  "not  elsewhere 
specified." 

Those  "few"  would  be  benefited,  would  they  not? 

Next,  we  have  around  12,000,000  of  bookkeepers,  clerks,  agents, 
operators,  teamsters,  etc.,  "engaged  in  trade  and  transportation," 
again  counting  "the  little  ones  at  home"  but  not  counting  the  "retail 
merchants"  nor  the  railway  manipulators. 

Those  "few"  would  be  benefited,  would  they  not? 

Next,  we  may  enumerate  among  our  people,  doctors,  lawyers, 
teachers  and  other  professional  folks,  counting  their  folks  at  home 
the  same  as  before,  some  7,000,000. 

Those  "few"  would  be  benefited,  would  they  not. 

Next  we  have — 

But  we  have  already  found  about  ninety-one  millions  of  the  "few 
people"  among  our  folks  who  would  be  benefited  by  a  cheap,  serviceable 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  353 

parcels  post.  That  leaves  somewheres  around  four  millions  to  be 
accounted  for. 

Again,  including  dependent  families  not  less  than  3,000,000  of 
that  number  can  be  classed  as  retail  merchants.  Half  of  that 
3,000,000  are  merchants,  dealers,  manufacturers,  etc.,  in  the  "larger 
cities,"  whom  even  the  opponents  of  the  parcels  post  have  agreed 
would  be  benefited  by  its  service.  At  any  rate  it  has  been  demon- 
strated by  organizations  of  merchants  in  the  large  cities  that  parcel 
deliveries  within  a  radius  of  thirty  or  forty  miles  of  their  stores,  which 
had  cost  from  eight  to  fifty  cents,  can  be  made  at  an  average  cost  not 
exceeding  four  cents. 

That  leaves  the  country  merchants,  the  jobbers,  the  railroad  and 
express  company  raiders  and  their  hired  opinion  molders  to  account 
for.  Of  these,  the  country  merchant  is  by  far  the  most  numerous, 
likewise  the  most  deserving  of  consideration. 

On  a  previous  page  I  made  it  fairly  clear,  I  think,  that  a  good, 
cheap  parcels  post  service  would  be  of  great  service  to  him.  He  has 
the  respect  and  the  confidence  of  his  customers.  He  knows  the  worth 
of  goods.  He  can  sell  the  goods — any  line  or  make — at  the  advertised 
or  catalogued  price  and  still  make  a  good  profit,  as  I  have  previously 
shown. 

The  parcels  carriage  charge,  either  by  mail  or  express,  is  now  so 
high  he  is  compelled  to  order  in  quantities  to  keep  "laid-down-prices" 
low  enough  to  meet  competition.  A  cheap  parcels  post  service  would 
put  him  in  position  to  meet  the  competition  of  the  larger  merchants  of 
the  cities.  A  line  of  samples,  showing  the  latest  patterns,  makes  and 
grades,  could  take  the  place  of  fully  half  the  shelf  stock  he  now  carries, 
aside  from  the  staples.  He  could  take  the  order  of  his  customer  and 
have  the  goods  delivered  by  parcels  post  either  to  his  store  or,  if  in  a 
rural  delivery  district,  to  the  home  of  his  customer  for  a  few  cents— 
have  it  delivered  as  cheaply  as  the  big  city  merchant,  manufacturer  or 
mail  order  house  can  have  it  delivered. 

Do  not  overlook  that  last  point,  Mr.  Country  Merchant,  when 
hired  yappers  are  coaching  you  to  oppose  a  good  parcels  post  service. 
The  government  will  not  pay  "rebates"  nor  allow  "differentials" 
in  its  parcels  carriage.  You  can  put  your  packages  through  the  mails 
at  as  low  a  charge  as  that  paid  by  a  merchant  with  millions  of  capital 
invested  in  stocks  of  goods. 


354  POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

Of  all  the  objections  now  urged  against  a  domestic  parcels  post  in 
this  country,  the  dangers  lurking  in  the  mail  order  house  is  the  most 
industriously  worked.  "It  would  be  a  fine  thing  for  the  eastern 
merchant  to  have  a  parcels  post  system-  whereby  he  could  supply  the 
people  throughout  the  country,"  said  a  Mr.  Louis  M.  Boswell,  a  few 
years  since  when  speaking  to  the  National  Association  of  Merchants 
and  Travelers,  convened  in  Chicago. 

And  who,  pray  you,  is  or  was  Mr.  Boswell?  Why,  Mr.  Boswell 
was  one  of  the  main  cogs  at  that  time,  in  the  Western  freight  traffic 
wheels.  Mr.  Boswell  talked  for  his  personal  interests,  and  for  those 
interests  only.  To  make  his  anti-parcels  post  talk  catch  his  auditors — 
the  Western  merchants — he  even  told  the  truth  about  the  express 
companies. 

Freight  should  be  transported  as  such  by  railroads  in  freight  cars,  and  not  by 
the  government  in  mail  cars.  *  *  *  I  have  long  regarded  the  ex- 
press companies  as  unnecessary  'middlemen.  *  *  *  Millions  of 
dollars  would  be  saved  annually  to  the  public  if  the  express  companies  were  done 
away  with,  and  I  do  not  believe  the  revenues  of  the  railroads  would  be  decreased. 

"And  what  are  you  on  earth  for,"  wrote  a  self-serving  trade  journal  editor  in 
1900,  "if  not  to  look  after  your  own  interests'?  A  parcels  post  *  *  * 
will  knock  your  business  silly.  You  are  the  one  entitled  to  the  trade  in  your  town 
and  neighborhood." 

I  present  the  above  quotations  as  fqir  samples  of  the  "argument" 
— its  method  and  its  source — against  a  domestic  parcels  post.  Let  it 
be  noticed  that  these  two  quoted  statements — as  is  the  case  with 
most  of  the  other  promotion  talk  against  a  parcels  post — is  talked  or 
addressed  to  country,  village,  town  and  one-night-stand  city  mecrhants. 

The  mail  order  houses  "will  knock  your  business  silly!" 

Now,  of  course,  it  must  be  admitted  that,  in  this  day  of  super- 
heated service  of  self,  a  man's  personal  interests  must  receive  his  first 
consideration.  But  I  cannot  for  the  life  of  me  see  why  these  "Western 
merchants  and  travelers"  take  the  talk  handed  them  by  "traffic"  cap- 
pers, express  company  agents  and  space  muddlers — take  it  in  such 
large  slugs — and  apparently  overlook  the  fact  that  these  talking  and 
writing  bubblers  are  serving  special  interests.  Can  you  understand  it, 
Mr.  "Storekeeper"  of  Rubenville?  Or  you,  Mr.  "Merchant"  of 
Swell  town?  Or  you  Mr.  "Shipper"  of  Cornshock  or  Feedersville  ? 

Mr.  Benson  in  his  March  article  in  Pearson's,  says  something 
anent  the  great  hue  and  cry  which  the  raiders,  aided  in  this  particular 


POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  355 

case  by  merchandise  jobbers  and  some  of  the  larger  department  store 
retailers,  are  trying  to  raise  among  country  merchants  and  rural 
residents  about  what  a  great  "  menace  and  danger"  the  mail  order 
houses  would  be  if  a  cheap,  serviceable  parcels  post  was  put  into 
operation.  I  hope  my  readers  will  carefully  peruse  what  he  has  said. 
Here  it  is  in  part  only : 

The  railroads,  in  fighting  the  parcels  post  through  the  country  merchants, 
are  playing  the  old  game.  The  old  game  is  to  work  upon  the  fears  of  a  minority, 
create  what  appears  to  be  a  difference  of  opinion  among  the  people,  and  thus  give 
Congress  an  opportunity  to  say  that  as  sentiment  seems  to  be  divided,  it  would 
perhaps  be  better  to  do  nothing  until  the  public  can  thrash  the  matter  out  and 
discover  what  it  wants.  In  the  present  instance  we  see  great  firms  like  Marshall 
Field  &  Company  combined  in  an  organization  to  spread  among  country  mer- 
chants fear  of  a  parcels  post.  Such  an  association  was  recently  formed  in  Chicago 
with  a  membership  of  300.  ********* 

There  is  only  one  country  merchant,  perhaps,  to  every  500  country  custom- 
ers, and  the  country  customers  are  all  in  favor  of  a  parcels  post.  All  other  things 
being  equal,  Congress  always  moves  in  the  direction  of  the  greatest  number  of 
votes.  But  in  this  matter,  as  in  many  others,  things  are  not  equal.  Great 
financial  interests  and  a  few  country  merchants  are  regarded  by  Congress  as  a 
majority.  ******  ****** 

"At  any  rate,  I  cannot  forget  that  while  Marshall  Field  &  Company 
cry  out  against  a  parcels  post,  because  it  would  build  up  the  mail 
order  houses,  that  they  themselves  do  a  large  mail  order  business. 

"This  action  on  their  part  may  seem  like  patriotism  of  the  highest 
sort — but  it  isn't.  The  mail  order  houses  don't  care  a  rap  about  a 
parcels  post.  They  are  not  against  it,  but  they  are  not  for  it.  My 
authority  for  this  statement  is  Mr.  Julius  Rosen wald,  President  of 
Sears,  Roebuck  &  Company  of  Chicago,  the  largest  mail*  order  house 
in  the  world.  I  approached  him  upon  the  subject,  believing  that  he 
would  grow  enthusiastic,  but  he  didn't.  He  said  he  had  never 
signed  a  petition  for  a  parcels  post,  or  otherwise  interested  himself  in 
the  matter,  and  never  should  do  so.  He  didn't  tell  me  why,  but  I 
found  out  why  and  will  tell  you. 

"The  minimum  freight  rates  of  the  railroads  literally  drive  country 
customers  into  the  mail  order  houses.  A  farmer's  wife,  we  will  say, 
has  a  present  need  for  two  or  three  articles  that  she  can  buy  from  a 
mail  order  house  for  less  than  her  local  merchant  can  afford  to  sell 
them  to  her.  But  the  articles  weigh  only  fifteen  pounds,  the  express 
charge  would  annihilate  her  saving,  and  the  minimum  freight  rate, 


356  POSTAL   RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS. 

for  which  she  might  as  well  have  100  pounds  shipped  to  her,  is  just  as 
high  as  the  express  rate.  But  she  still  wants  the  two  or  three  articles 
and  she  wants  to  buy  them  from  the  mail  order  house.  So  what  does 
this  thrifty  woman  do?  First,  she  increases  her  order  by  putting 
down  a  few  articles  that  she  will  need  perhaps  three  months  later. 
Then  she  canvasses  her  neighbors  for  orders  until  she  gets  enough  to 
make  100  pounds,  and  divides  the  freight  charges  pro  rata.  The 
result  is  that  the  mail  order  house  gets  an  order  for  100  pounds  of 
goods  instead  of  an  order  for  the  fifteen  pounds  that  would  have  been 
bought  if  a  parcels  post  like  the  English  or  the  German  had  enabled 
the  farmer's  wife  to  order  only  what  she  first  meant  to  buy.  Inci- 
dentally, the  country  merchant  in  her  vicinity  is  not  helped  thereby. 

"If  you  have  any  doubt  about  the  truth  of  this  statement,  send  a 
petition  for  a  parcels  post  to  Mr.  Julius  Rosenwald,  President  of 
Sears,  Roebuck  &  Company,  Chicago,  and  see  how  quickly  he  will 
not  sign  it.  You  will  not  be  able  to  get  him  to  lift  a  finger  to  help  you. 
He  is  sending  out  fifty-eight  loaded  freight  cars  each  day,  compara- 
tively little  express  matter,  doing  a  business  of  $63,000,000  a  year,  and 
is  quite  satisfied  with  such  transportation  facilities  as  exist. 

' '  But  don't  blame  the  mail  order  men  because  they  don't  help  you. 
Help  yourself.  First,  help  yourself  by  getting  it  clearly  in  your 
mind  who  in  this  matter  is  the  chief  offender.  Your  government  is 
the  chief  offender.  So  far  as  postal  matters  are  concerned,  your 
government  is  protecting  the  interests  that  are  robbing  you.  Your 
government  goes  even  to  the  extent  of  submitting  to  robbery  at  the 
hands  of  the  interests  that  rob  you.  I  refer  to  the  continuing  scandal 
of  exorbitant  mail  contracts."  *  *  *  '  * 

Now,  I  desire  to  talk  somewhat  directly  to  the  rural  and  village 
storekeeper  and  of  storekeeping. 

The  manufacturer,  wholesaler  or  jobber  always  sells  the  retail 
merchant —  the  quantity  buyer — cheaper  than  they  will  sell  in  broken 
lots  to  the  consumer.  They  will  always  sell  to  you  cheaper  than  they 
will  sell  to  your  customer,  will  they  not? 

You  have  an  "edge"  of  20  to  40  per  cent.,  have  you  not?  But 
to  hold  that  "edge"  now,  you  must  order  in  quantities  which  anticipate 
the  demands  of  your  custom,  must  you  not?  You  must  "stock  up," 
must  you  not  ?  If  you  miss  your  guess,  and  underbuy  the  demands  of 
your  trade,  you  must,  later, '  'sort  up, ' '  must  you  not  ?  If  you  sort-up, 


POSTAL   RIDERS   AND   RAIDERS.  357 

you  do  it  at  "broken-lot"  rates  and  pay  excessive  carriage  charges  for 
delivery  to  your  place  of  business,  do  you  not  ?  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
you  overbuy  the  demands  of  your  trade,  your  shelves  are  soon  full  of 
' 'shelf -worns,"  are  they  not?  These  shelf-worns  you  must  unload, 
must  you  not?  To  do  that,  you  offer  "bargains,"  do  you  not?  Un- 
loading "bargains"  loses  your  "edge" — your  profits — does  it  not? 

But  still  another  point  in  your  present  and  compelled  method  of 
business.  Your  customer  is  never  so  well  pleased  with  your  sacrifice 
"bargains"  as  he  or  she  is  with  the  fresh,  up-to-date  article,  which  you 
sell  at  a  profit.  Is  that  not  so? 

Now,  let  us  see  how  a  cheap  parcels  post  would  "knock  your 
business  silly."  Let's  put  the  rate,  say  at  5  cents  for  parcels  up  to 
one  pound,  8  cents  to  two  pounds,  10  cents  to  three  pounds,  12  cents 
to  four  pounds,  and  so  shading  up  in  weight  to  twenty-five  pounds, 
at  one  cent  a  pound.  I  present  this  scale  of  weights  and  prices  merely 
to  illustrate.  I  have  given  them  no  particular  thought  or  considera- 
tion— that  is,  I  do  not  present  them  as  a  recommended  basis  for  a 
parcels  carriage  system.  I  believe,  however,  that  the  government 
can  carry  and  deliver  parcels  at  about  the  rates  named  and  not  create 
any  larger  " deficits"  than  the  postal  service  now  shows. 

That  aside,  let  us  see  how  you,  Mr.  Retail  Country  Merchant, 
would  come  out  in  the  deal  : 

First:  You  would  not  have  to  "stock  up"  beyond  the  known 
demands  of  your  customers.  Your  "shelf -capital,"  then,  would  need 
not,  necessarily,  be  more  than  half  what  is  now  is. 

Second:  You  could  serve  your  customers  fresh  goods  of  latest 
pattern  and  at  less  cost,  and  still  serve  them  at  a  profit,  instead  of 
working  off  shelf -worn  "bargains"  on  them  at  a  loss. 

Third:  Mrs.  Lucy  Smith  sees  a  Sereno  Payne  imported  glove, 
advertised  by  an  "eastern  merchant"  or  some  distant  "mail  order 
house."  It  is  the  "very  latest"  and  guaranteed  to  be  the  very  best 
"kid"  ever  built — from  a  premature  calf.  Or  Uncle  Joe  wants  a 
mop  rag-holder  for  Martha.  It,  too,  is  advertised  by  some  distant 
manufacturer,  merchant  or  mail-order  bogey  man.  Say  the  adver- 
tised price  of  each  is  $1.00.  Each,  of  course,  weighs  less  than  one 
pound. 

Now,  if  Mrs.  Smith  or  Uncle  Joe  orders  direct,  the  article  costs 
them,  postage  added  at  our  hypothetical  rate,  $1.05.  Of  course, 


358  POSTAL   RIDERS  AND   RAIDERS. 

they  will  have  inquired  of  you  before  they  ordered — to  see  if  you  have 
it  in  stock — will  they  not?  Well,  you  haven't  it  in  stock — and  you 
can't  work  off  on  them  "something  just  as  good."  Mrs.  Smith  just 
must  have  those  particular  gloves,  and  no  other  mop-holder  will 
satisfy  Uncle  Joe.  Now  what  do  you  do? 

Do  you  tear  off  a  yard  or  two  of  tirade  about  mail  order  houses 
that  are  "knocking  your  business  silly"  and  about  manufacturers  who 
are  "flooding  the  country  with  fake  goods?"  If  you  do,  you  ought  to 
quit  business  and  go  put  your  head  in  pickle  or  take  the  "cure." 
But  you  won't  tirade.  No  sir,  nary  tirade  from  you !  You  will  be 
onto  your  job  in  a  minute.  And  why? 

Well,  first,  you  know  that  you  can  get  those  gloves  or  that 
mop-holder  for  20  to  40  per  cent  less  than  the  rate  advertised  for  Mrs. 
Smith  and  Uncle  Joe.  You  can  have  either  sent  by  mail  and  deliver 
it  to  Mrs.  Smith  or  Uncle  Joe  at  the  advertised" rate,  pay  the  parcels 
charge  yourself  and  still  make  10  to  20  cents  on  the  deal.  If  the 
gloves  or  the  mop-holder  strikes  you  as  a  probable  "seller,"  you  can 
order  a  half  dozen  or  a  dozen  pairs  of  the  gloves,  or  three  or  four 
mop-holders,  and  still  keep  your  parcel  inside  the  one  or  two  pound  rate. 

One  other  point  in  closing: 

Well,  it  may  be  of  no  use — of  no  service  value  to  the  reader  who 
asks  the  question.  He  may  be  a  man  who  has  reached  his  limit 
of  endurance — who  has  given  up  all  hope  of  improving  or  correcting 
legalized  injustices  which  rob  him  to  enrich  others.  If  so,  he  has  my 
sympathy.  Or  he  may  be  a  man  who  has  "set  into  the  game"  and 
lost,  or  one  who  is  hired  as  a  capper,  steerer  or  "look  out"  for  its 
operators.  I  cannot  say.  If  the  former,  he  still  has  my  sympathy ;  if 
the  latter,  my  contempt. 

I  am  fully  convinced  that  the  outrages  permitted  by  the  munici- 
pal, state  and  national  governments  of  this  country  in  rendering 
public  service  to  its  people  have  discouraged  thousands  of  its  best 
citizens — best  in  manhood  I  mean,  of  course.  The  beneficiaries  of  the 
outrages  I  speak  of  are,  usually,  rated  as  "best"  at  the  bank,  in  the 
society  columns  and  in  court  proceedings.  Even  our  divorce  court 
records  give  the  latter  conspicuous  precedence. 

"  111  fares  the  land,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates  and  men  decay." 

No  truer  thought  as  to  the  politics  and  policy  of  government  was 


POSTAL    RIDERS   AND    RAIDERS.  359 

ever  written  than  that.  When  wealth  accumulates  by  legalizing 
the  spoliation  and  exploitation  of  the  great  body  of  a  nation's  people 
for  the  benefit  of  a  few,  the  decay  of  its  manhood  is  all  the  more  rapid. 
When  any  considerable  body  of  a  nation's  citizens  begins  to  ask, 
"What  is  the  use?" — that  nation  has  reached  the  danger  line — has 
started  down  the  decline. 

Now,  I  undertake  to  say  that  no  observing  man  of  average  in- 
telligence can  be  found  in  this  country  today  who  will  not  give  it  as 
his  honest  opinion — unless,  of  course,  he  is  hired  to  say  otherwise — 
that  not  only  thousands  but  millions  of  our  people — of  its  industrial, 
productive  manhood  and  womanhood — are  asking,  "What  is  the  use" 
of  arguing  and  struggling  against  the  oppressive  conditions  which  the 
laws  and  our  administrative  and  judicial  officers  force  upon  us9  What 
is  the  use  of  "knocking"  the  men  who  get  the  "graft,"  the  rake-off 
or  the  loot? 

"Their  big  bunch  of  money,"  says  one  writer,  "makes  so  much 
noise,  no  one  hears  our  knocks."  "Everybody  is  out  for  the  stuff," 
says  another.  "It  is  their  representatives  not  ours  who  make  the 
laws  and  it  is  their  judges  not  ours  who  adjudicate  them."  "Industry, 
thrift,  brains  and  even  honesty  have  ceased  to  count  anywhere,  save 
on  their  payrolls.  Money  alone  counts." 

"Stop  knocking,  my  son,"  has  become  common  in  paternal 
counsel.  "Sit  into  the  game  and  get  money.  Of  course,  'get  it 
honestly  if  you  can,  but  get  it.'  " 

"And  if   I  fail,"  asks  the  boy. 

"Well,  my  son,  unless  you  are  careful  to  salt  away  in  some  place 
secure  from  assessors  and  raiders  as  well  as  from  thieves,  the  chips 
/  have  raked  in,  your  best  course  is  to  get  on  the  payroll  of  the 
gamesters." 

A  recent  reading  says,  in  effect,  that  there  are  dropped  into  the 
life  of  every  man  moments 'in  which  "he  has  the  chance  to  act  the 
hypocrite  or  to  act  the  scoundrel."  But  when  aided  and  abetted  by 
the  law,  such  "chances"  are  not  merely  for  the  moment.  They 
extend  through  days  and  years,  and  those  so  aided  and  abetted  usually 
take  both  chances — act  both  the  hypocrite  and  the  scoundrel,  and  to  the 
time  limit  of  their  protected  opportunity. 

But  that  is  neither  all  nor  the  worst  of  it. 

This  legalized  hypocrisy  and  scoundrelism  is  now  widely  known 


360  POSTAL    RIDERS    AND    RAIDERS. 

to  the  honest,  productive  citizenship  of  the  country,  and  it  is  daily 
becoming  better  known.  What  is  the  result  ?  Simply  this : 

The  law  and  government  administrators  are,  in  permitting 
such  injustices,  not  only  creating  class  distinction  by  the  enrichment  of 
a  few  of  our  citizens  and  holding  the  millions  to  the  subsistence  level — 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  them  to  the  "bread-line" — not  only  that,  but 
legalized  and  protected  injustice  is  dignifying  hypocrisy  and 
scoundrelism.  It  is  sapping  the"  moral  foundations  of  a  worthy  man- 
hood as  well  as  robbing  it  of  its  material  wealth  and  earnings. 

But  what  has  this  sermonizing  to  do  with  the  parcels  post 
question,  some  one  asks?  It  has  this  to  do  with  it ! 

Of  the  numerous  array  of  law  enriched  hypocrites  and 
scoundrels  in  this  country,  nowhere  can  be  found  more  of  them  to 
the  lineal  or  square  rod  than  can  be  counted  in  the  ranks  of  the  favored 
beneficiaries  of  existing  postal  laws  and  regulations — in  the 
ranks  of  the  opponents  to  cheapening  and  bettering  the  parcels 
carriage  service. 


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